Johto's Dark Secrets
by Shadow Serenity 57
Summary: Carrie becomes a trainer to extract revenge on her father's Machamp after enduring fourteen years of abuse. But when Machamp begins turning Pokemon, wild and trained alike, against the humans, training becomes more that just an escape for Carrie, it becomes the only means of survival for the quiet region of Johto. (Clichestorm, engage! Working around it best I can.)
1. Struggles

**A/N:** So I went through and edited the entire story so far (up to chapter 6 at the time of writing). Most of it, including the basic plot, is the same, just some details and things have been changed. For example, I removed the talking pokémon, and slightly changed Carrie's father. If you've already read it, though, you won't really miss anything too important by skipping the rewrite. Anyways... time to put up the rest of these.

**

* * *

Chapter 1 - Struggles**

The first thing she noticed was that it was dark. She blinked to prove to herself that her eyes were indeed open. Her next observation was that she was extremely cold, however there was no breeze of any sort. _How could there be? I'm deep in a cave, after all _she thought. Still, something didn't feel right. She then noticed a feeling of strong anxiety, though this she was not surprised to discover. She must be getting close.

She spotted a white light in the distance. _So, I'm not blind. Yes, that light must be where it waits for me_. She walked closer.

The light immediately grew close, and much larger. She stared at it in disbelief. _Faster than I thought, I see. _This was it, then - the creature she had been looking for.

_You're mine_, she thought to herself, readying a pokéball in her hand.

The white light, suddenly not a light, but a physical, shapeless being, seemed to turn towards her in response to her thought. She panicked; it was not supposed to be able to see her. She moved to throw the pokéball, but her hand was frozen still. To her horror, she realized it wasn't just her hand… no matter how she struggled, she couldn't move her entire arm, or any other part of her body, for that matter.

There was a flash of white light from the creature… no; it was an energy beam of some kind… It seemed to travel in slow couldn't run. Her whole body was encased in ice and the beam drew ever closer. She tried to scream, but nothing came out, and the light slowly enveloped her…

No…

* * *

"NO!" the girl screamed, bolting upright into a sitting position.

It was still dark, and again she was blinded because of it. She didn't need to blink to know that this was real, though. She was breathing heavily and she could feel the cold sweat trickling down her neck; that was proof enough for her that she was still alive and now awake. She hadn't had any sense of feeling a few moments ago aside from being momentarily cold.

She sat there in the dark for a long while, allowing her breathing to calm as she repeated to herself, _it was just a dream… just another damned nightmare…_ Instinctively, as if to further reassure herself, she flailed her right arm – it was cold from the sweat, but definitely not frozen. She sighed angrily.

Deciding she was reasonably in-control now, she slowly turned and reached for a cell phone that was on a side table next to her bed. At the push of a button, the small electrical device lit up. The digital clock on the screen read 2:33 am.

"Damn it!" she shouted, slamming the phone violently on the nightstand. She had gotten less than an hour's sleep this time.

Suddenly there was a fierce pounding on the wall behind her bed. Dust particles and other debris fell from the ceiling and drifted to rest across the bed. The girl silently growled to herself as she punched her pillow furiously before flopping back down against it, laying in the dark silence for a short while before she allowed herself to succumb to the nightmare all over again.

* * *

"Honey, slow down, you're spilling milk everywhere. You still have over three hours before you are supposed to see Professor Elm."

The girl ignored her mother and continued to force her cereal into her mouth a little too quickly. Some of her light brown hair that was currently hanging out of the backwards pink cap she was wearing got tangled with her spoon. After forcing said spoon in her mouth, she noticed the hair and promptly spit the half-chewed cereal out carelessly on her pink skirt, cursing immediately afterwards as milk dribbled down her chin onto her purple sleeveless top and the pink undershirt.

The thin, pale, gray-haired woman glanced at her daughter and sighed, sitting down in the old metal folding chair opposite her at the flimsy table, which was currently being supported by more than a dozen old phone books in place of a missing leg.

"What's wrong, Carrie?"

"Freaking hair in my food," the young girl hissed angrily.

"I didn't mean the hair," the woman said.

"I'm _fine_, mom," Carrie replied forcefully, and then shoved another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"You look exhausted. Didn't you sleep at all last night?"

"Of course she didn't sleep last night," came a gruff voice from the next room. "She was too busy shouting and keeping everyone else awake."

"I was _not_ shouting, damnit, dad! I was having nightmares!" Carrie shouted back at her father.

"Do _not_ talk back to me, you maggot," her father threatened. The man stood up from his spot on the old, worn-out sofa in the conjoined living room, where he and his Pokémon had previously been watching a boxing match on an ancient black-and-white television. He was a rather tall man, considering how absurdly fat he was, with little hair on the top of his head, and wearing the only shirt that would really fit him – a plain, white, sleeveless one, and rather large sweatpants. The man's Pokémon, a grayish, almost human-like creature (Carrie thought randomly that it would look very convincing if seen in the dark or looked at quickly, if not for the fact that it had four arms), stood up with his master. Carrie noted that he wasn't wearing the usual power-restricting belt that most Machamp were required to use.

Carrie dropped her spoon into her bowl with deliberate force and stood up as well, glaring at her father with murder in her eyes.

"Carrie, sit down," her mother urged, tugging her sleeve, trying to force her back into her chair.

"Listen to your mother, you pig," said her father.

Carrie ripped her arm away from her mother's grip and kicked her folding chair away from her as she wiped the milk off her chin. Then she bent down and pulled off one of her shoes and tossed it as hard as she could towards her father.

Before he could even flinch, the gray Machamp was there, beating the shoe away with a flick of his wrist. He then leapt over the old sofa and lunged at Carrie, fists flying. She felt an immeasurable pain in her gut and was thrown off her feet, sent flying across the room and breaking right through a boarded-up window over the kitchen sink.

The woman screamed as she ran outside to find her daughter lying in the dead grass, almost unconscious but moving ever so slowly with whimpering moans. There was a dark red puddle of blood forming under her left shoulder, where she first hit the wooden barricade of the window.

She moaned loudly as she tried to move her left arm. Miraculously, she managed to lift it slightly. Content with the knowledge that, somehow, nothing was broken, she moaned again and fell limp, having no desire to attempt to get off the cold, dirty ground. Her mother hurried to the girl's side and hovered over her, afraid to even touch her.

The Machamp then appeared at the door to the trailer with a satanic grin. He made a motion across his mouth with one of his hands, an obvious signal to Carrie's mother to keep her mouth shut about what just happened, though he knew the woman wouldn't say a word. The Pokémon walked slowly up to the Carrie's body, where the mother had thrown herself over her daughter in a futile effort to protect her from her four-armed assailant. Machamp just snickered and lifted the woman with one hand as she flailed about helplessly, and the barely conscious girl in another, quite unconcerned with the groans of protest she made in response, and carried them back into their trailer.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Carrie had her first feeling of awareness. Upon waking, she immediately noticed an odd stiffness in her left shoulder and her stomach as well. She lifted herself up slightly, noticing as she did so that she was naked under the wrappings of her blanket, and examined her bandaged arm. Someone had apparently removed the splinters and repaired it while she was knocked out. Curious, she lifted her blanket with her good right arm and looked at the rest of her body. Her stomach, too, was wrapped tightly in bandages. She hissed furiously as she flopped back against her pillow.

At that moment, a freakishly demonic voice from a dark corner of her bedroom began to laugh. The sound made Carrie try to launch upright, an automatic, involuntary response to an unexpected noise in the dark, but she recoiled as she realized the hard way that the pain in her stomach had not yet faded as quickly as her arm, and fell back to her pillow with a moan.

Machamp snickered again as he walked slowly into Carrie's line of view while she was more or less trapped in her lying position. He began speaking, saying words Carrie couldn't understand, but his tone was clearly mocking. Carrie moaned weakly as she forced herself carefully up, ignoring the pain in her stomach now, and spit into the Machamp's face.

Just as quickly as before, the Machamp reacted. Before she could so much as breathe, Carrie found herself pinned down by her shoulders by two of Machamp's arms (who paid no mind to the already existing wounds), and a third of his fists just a millimeter or so from her nose. He moved so fast, she didn't even have time to close her eyes in anticipation. However, Machamp didn't strike. Instead, he laughed and began speaking again.

Carrie coughed and whimpered in response to the immense pain in her shoulder, squirming around in an attempt to shake Machamp off; an act that quickly proved futile. The Pokémon seemed to be enjoying her discomfort and applied extra pressure to Carrie's injured arm, causing her to scream loudly. Machamp covered her mouth with his remaining hand and her screams were silenced.

And with that, the Machamp spit back in Carrie's face a much larger glob of mucus than hers had been before forcibly releasing his hold on her and stomping out of the room, leaving Carrie to cry in silence.

* * *

Morning came all too quickly. Carrie didn't even remember falling asleep. If she had any nightmares, she didn't remember those either, which she took to be good news.

She slowly forced herself into a sitting position again, and then twisted around to reach her cell phone to check the time. It was a little after eleven. More interesting than how late she slept, however, was that she had a message. Curious, she listened to it.

"Hello, Carrie? Um… this is Professor Elm. I was under the impression that we had agreed to meet at ten in the morning today. It is now ten minutes after two. Um… please call me back."

Crap. She'd missed her appointment yesterday. _All because of that damned Machamp and my maniac father_ Carrie thought. Anger boiled inside her once again. She violently tore the blankets away from her body and jumped out of her bed, marching a few feet towards her door before stopping abruptly, something clicking in her head. She had hardly been able to move yesterday…

She looked down at her still naked body. The bandages were still wrapped tightly around her waist, but she felt no more pain or discomfort. She looked at her left shoulder as she flexed, with similar results. Whoever, whatever healed her, it did its job well. Too distracted to remember why she was out of bed, she walked the rest of the way to the door calmly, thinking absentmindedly of breakfast. Just as she reached for the bronze doorknob, though, she caught sight of her reflection – she still hadn't put on any clothes. She sighed and turned, walked back to her bed and knelt down, and pulled a large cardboard box out from underneath it where her clothes were stored. Deciding she was too tired to care how she looked today, she grabbed a white undershirt that was far too big for her and a pair of large blue jeans and dressed hastily, pushing the box back to its former place before returning to the door, jeans dragging under her feet.

Carrie walked down the short hallway, sleepily rubbing her left eye. She entered the kitchen where she spotted her father and Machamp eating breakfast and silently decided she wasn't hungry anymore. Instead, she turned left and stepped outside, trying her best to appear as if that had been her destination all along.

It was a beautiful, warm summer day. A short distance from where Carrie stood on the wooden porch, her mother was hanging Carrie's clothes from yesterday to dry, having apparently washed them after someone had stripped them from her. Meanwhile, a rather fat, oval-shaped pink and white Pokémon was enthusiastically carrying a bucket of water towards her trainer, though large amounts of it were splashing over the edge. Carrie wondered vaguely just how much water would be left in the bucket when her mother's Blissey finally set it down. After staring blankly at the Blissey for a minute, Carrie thought dully that it must have been Blissey who had somehow healed her wounds while she was unconscious. How else had she recovered so quickly?

Unsure of what to do next, Carrie walked down the few short stairs and wandered over to where she had been laying in the grass the previous morning.

A small white squirrel with a blue stripe down his back was standing in the area, nibbling on something. The Pachirisu turned and froze as he heard Carrie's bare feet crack the grass, then turned fled up the nearest tree as she approached. Carrie watched him scurry up the thin tree before looking at the ground. Much of the dirt and grass was still stained with her blood. Carrie fell to her knees silently and brushed her hand over the crimson grass, noting that a few of the blades were shorter and jagged; the Pachirisu must have been tasting the oddly colored blades. Tears began to form in her eyes as she stared at the bloodstained dirt. _I swear, I will make them pay. Both of them. Dad and that pathetic Machamp. As soon as I get my own Pokémon, they're both going to be sorry._

That thought made her freeze. _My own Pokémon…_ At that moment, the memory of listening to Professor Elm's phone message flashed in her mind. Carrie sprang to her feet and began running, barefoot, to the professor's laboratory, her long, light-brown hair flowing behind her.

* * *

Carrie's mother peered around the towel she had just hung on the clothesline to see her daughter sprinting into the forest.

With a worried expression, she walked carefully to the porch, not going up the stairs, but just close enough to peek inside through the screen door. Her husband and his Pokémon were watching that television again. She stepped away slowly, careful not to make any noise, sprinted awkwardly to the thin tree, and knocked on the trunk. A small, white squirrel poked his head out from his hiding spot behind a branch.

"Keep watch over her, won't you?" the woman choked out as she fought back her tears, pointing towards the speck in the distance that was here daughter. She always knew her daughter would be leaving one day. After all, Carrie had been meaning to go out on a Pokémon journey, just like her mother.

The Pachirisu just nodded and darted down the tree trunk, speeding off in the direction of the girl. The woman barely noticed.

* * *

The pain in Carrie's stomach was starting to return as she ran, though whether it was from her recent encounter with Machamp or from the lack of food since her half-finished cereal yesterday morning, she didn't know. She struggled to breathe, but refused to slow down. _The lab is just around the corner, _she thought, forcing herself to keep running, now deep into the small down.

She could already feel her body giving in, however. Her vision was starting to blur, and her breathing was very strained now. She forced herself onwards, no blurry mass in her way, until finally she could just make out the shape of a person in white in front of her, kneeling down beside a small, blue object. She decided she had struggled enough and allowed herself to fall to her knees for the third time this morning.

"Prof…ess…or…" she said just barely louder than a whisper, and collapsed in the dirt.

* * *

The next thing Carrie was aware of was that her forehead was cold and wet. She wondered how badly she was bleeding but was too afraid to move her hand to her head and find out. Why was she bleeding so much, anyway? The last thing she remembered was running through a town… as far as she could remember, she didn't hit her head on anything… Instead of thinking too hard, she lay motionless and tried to open her eyes. The second she did, they were met with an intense white light, and Carrie let out a small moan of disapproval as she squeezed her eyes shut again. Suddenly, a voice very near her spoke.

"Professor, I think she's waking up."

A few seconds later, she felt a gentle pressure on her forehead, and realized there was something on top of it, between her head and the new pressure; someone had attempted to stop the bleeding. But her head felt so wet. Whatever whoever it was that helped her tried to do, it clearly wasn't working. A second voice then spoke; it sounded to Carrie like a kind, albeit almost nerdy tone.

"Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Still unable to remember what exactly had happened, Carrie assumed the questions were directed at her and let out another grunt to signal that she heard him. She then reached her right hand up to her head to feel her blood. The slight pressure vanished just before she touched it. It appeared to be a damp towel, she realized; she hadn't been bleeding at all. Well, that was good. But why did she need the towel, then? Curious, she tried to sit up.

"Easy now," said the nerdy voice, as someone placed a hand on her back to help her sit up. She felt the towel fall from her head and into her lap, and her jeans proceeded to happily absorb the excess water.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You are in my Pokémon laboratory," said the nerdy voice. The lab. She made it after all. So that must mean the nerdy voice was…

"Professor… Elm?" Carrie asked. Desperate to see, she started to open her eyes again, blinking in the harsh whiteness of the room.

"Yes, that is I," confirmed the nerdy voice. "My, you had us all so terribly worried, we had no idea what had happened to you-"

"What _did_ happen to me?" Carrie cut him off.

"You fainted in the road," came the first voice. It sounded rather high, so Carrie assumed the speaker was female. "We assumed you were attacked or something, so we brought you inside."

"Fainted… right… I ran from my house to… what time is it?"

"It is just after noon," said Professor Elm.

Carrie blinked a bit more, her eyes now adjusting to the light. She looked to her left and saw the professor staring at her, looking very confused. His sandy hair was rather messy and he was still wearing his white lab coat and, in Carrie's opinion, very dorky glasses. Off to her right stood Elm's lab assistant, also in a white lab coat and glasses, though somehow with his black hair, he didn't look half as goofy when compared to Elm's lighter brown. Carrie looked around for the female voice, but there was no other person in the room. She then stared questioningly at Elm's assistant, whose name she did not know, wondering if he could possibly have such a high pitched voice. She must have been making a face, because the assistant frowned and tilted his head as he studied her.

A sudden cry from behind her brought Carrie's attention back to the room. She slowly twisted her body to see the speaker behind her.

Directly where her head had been while lying down stood her mother's Pachirisu and the creature Carrie then remembered seeing with Elm just before fainting. Only now that her vision wasn't blurred did she notice that the Pokémon wasn't purely blue – the sandy yellow of its stomach blended in with the dirt in her blurred vision.

"This is a Cyndaquil," Elm said as Carrie turned completely around on the table she rested on, kneeling now, and stared at the Pokémon. "And this is my assistant, Arthur Williams." The man with the black hair held his hand out.

"Hi," Carrie said, shaking it briefly before turning back to the Pokémon. Arthur frowned again.

Carrie studied the new Pokémon for a moment, ignoring Pachirisu's gleeful cheering. Cyndaquil extended his front paw, but Carrie simply stared down at him. After a few seconds, Cyndaquil lowered his paw back to the table, smoke flowing from the yellow spots on his blue back. Carrie turned back to Elm.

"Professor… I'm sorry about yesterday. I had… I wasn't feeling well. Would it be possible for me to get my Pokémon now, instead?"

The professor looked suspiciously at Carrie's exposed left shoulder, still covered in bandages. "Well…" he said nervously, hesitating; certainly an odd behavior from the professor, who usually talked so much that it was difficult to get a word in. After a few seconds, he sighed. "I guess so. You've already met Cyndaquil here." He gestured to the Pokémon, who nodded once and smiled. Carrie couldn't shake the thought that it looked forced.

She returned the smile halfheartedly, and asked, "What else have you got?" Cyndaquil looked completely insulted again, producing more thick smoke from his back, apparently unaware that he was doing so.

Professor Elm rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well… you see, you weren't the only trainer this season… I'm afraid that we have no suitable Pokémon left, unless you want to take this Cyndaquil," he said.

Carrie's heart sank as she thought. If she were honest with herself, she wasn't sure exactly what specific Pokémon she wanted to choose. She had always had an interest in ice-types but as far as she knew, though the professors had recently expanded their starter selections, there were no ice Pokémon that were given out as starters. Instead, she had just planned to see what her options were and pick the one that stood the best chance against Machamp. She looked at the Cyndaquil again. Even as fired up as he was, how could this cute little thing battle her father's vicious partner?

The painful reality began to sink in as she looked at Cyndaquil. Whatever she chose, she realized, she would have to train up anyway. No freshly hatched Pokémon could possibly take on a fully evolved one and hope to win, no matter how carefully bred it was. She felt incredibly stupid for thinking for all this time that she could just pick any Pokémon and happily get revenge on Machamp just like that, and was very glad that no one in the room at the moment could read her mind.

"All right," she said finally, "if Cyndaquil is all you have, I'll take it." Elm nodded slowly, however Cyndaquil looked less than pleased with Carrie's sudden change of heart.

"Quil!" he screeched in his high-pitched voice, turning his back on Carrie. She didn't have to understand Pokémon speech to know what he said.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Carrie asked, shocked.

Cyndaquil replied, still in Pokémon speech, and suddenly his back burst into flames.

"Carrie," Arthur started. "Pokémon have feelings too. I believe Cyndaquil feels disrespected. He offered you his paw and you ignored it. The smoke he was releasing is a sign of anger. You didn't apologize when you had clearly offended him. When he was introduced, you simply asked what else you had to choose from right in front of him. You hurt his feelings."

Carrie's angry expression melted away as Professor Williams finished. Cyndaquil then looked back and added something in Pokémon speech with a nod. There was a sudden, rapid beeping sound in the distance, to which Elm's assistant excused himself to check on as Cyndaquil sniffed loudly, only then realizing he was crying, and turned away again as if to hide his face. Carrie sighed.

"You're right," she admitted irritably. "I didn't think about your feelings, and it was rude of me. I guess I've just become a bit edgy, with ev- well, I'm sorry, anyway." Cyndaquil didn't turn around, or respond in any other way to show that he heard her.

"It is also polite," Elm added, "to not make a small Pokémon look up at you when you speak to it. It makes them feel more comfortable."

"Quil," Cyndaquil confirmed. Truly feeling irritated now, Carrie reached over and wiped a tear from Cyndaquil's face with her thumb. The tiny Pokémon shivered slightly, but otherwise didn't react.

"Carrie, that was your mother," said Elm's assistant from behind her. Carrie assumed the beeping she heard earlier had been a phone. "She knew you'd be coming here for a Pokémon and asked if you had left yet. I told her you were heading back home soon, so she will be expecting you."

Carrie wanted to ask why in the world he would tell her to expect her to come home, but then she remembered that she couldn't leave if she wanted to anyway: she still had no Pokémon. Besides, she couldn't wander Johto wearing nothing but sagging jeans and an oversized t-shirt. Where else could she go but back?

"Right," she replied before sliding off the surface she had been kneeling on. She looked around the room properly for the first time now. She appeared to be in Elm's library, or work room of sorts. There were shelves all around the room's perimeter, full of books, and about half a dozen tables in the center of the room covered in papers of various colors. She noticed that the table now in front of her had a considerably larger stack of papers, and turned to look behind her at exactly what she had been laying on. It was, in fact, a wooden table just like the rest, whose papers must have been moved to make room for her.

Looking around again, Carrie found the door and headed towards it without another word.

"Carrie," Elm said. Carrie stopped in the doorway and turned around to see Cyndaquil and Pachirisu looking up at her.

"I think you should take Cyndaquil with you," Elm continued. Behind him, Professor Williams' jaw dropped momentarily, but he quickly caught his mistake and resumed his professional appearance.

Carrie couldn't think, selfish elation already starting to consume her at the thought that she would be getting a Pokémon after all. "Wha… really? Why?"

"Not permanently," Elm replied, handing Carrie a pokéball. "Just spend some time with him. You two got off on the wrong foot."

"I… well, okay then. When do you want him back?"

"Whenever he wishes to return. I trust you won't steal him."

The girl just stared. "Oh… okay. Um… I guess I'll be back later, then. You really want to give me another chance, Cyndaquil?" At first the Pokémon looked hesitant and wary, but after a pat on the head by Pachirisu, he nodded and trotted up to her, the white squirrel right behind.

Cyndaquil followed Carrie and Pachirisu outside and after waving good-bye to the professors, she led him behind the nearest house, looking around to make sure no one was listening before she spoke.

"Okay," Carrie started, "if we're going to do this, you have to stay hidden. It… it isn't safe." She pointed at her wrapped shoulder as proof of her words, then, thinking it couldn't hurt, lifted up her shirt to show her bandaged stomach also.

"Cynda?" Cyndaquil asked, tilting his head.

"You'll see," Carrie replied. "Let's get going."


	2. Escape

**A/N:** Uh... Ch. 2 revamp. Yeeeah.

* * *

**Ch. 2 - Escape**

As she walked through the woods, Carrie's stomach grumbled loudly and she lurched over in pain. Not having food for over a day was really hurting her already weak body.

Then she saw something ahead of her that looked rather odd for the forest setting – a thick cloud of smoke was rising in the distance. Carrie gasped as she quickly guessed in her head the general length left to her home and, ignoring the pain in her stomach once again, began to run towards the smoke. Pachirisu had long since darted ahead of her, so she couldn't even send it to scout ahead.

She slowed as she approached, first noticing that her house was in fact not on fire. Looking around quickly, she then spotted her father and Machamp a short distance away, a large box at their feet. The smoke Carrie had seen was forming from a fire on the ground in front of them; they were burning something. Hate boiled inside her, but she tried to push it aside. Now wasn't the time for that. If things went well, her father wouldn't know she'd ever been back.

Hiding behind a rather thick tree, she unclenched her fist and stared at the tiny red and white ball she'd been clutching since she left the lab. She pushed a button in the center, and the sphere doubled in size in a matter of seconds, after which she let it fall to the ground, where it opened. In a flash of white light, a shape began to form on the ground by her foot. The sphere then bounced back to Carrie's hand, its job done, as the shape formed into Cyndaquil and the light faded.

"We're here," Carrie said, "but be quiet and stay hidden. Don't leave this spot, okay? I'll be right back, I just need to change and get some things. Then we'll go into the woods and… well, we'll find something to do." And before waiting for the creature's reply, she turned to peek at her father again. He and Machamp were still laughing happily as the man slapped the Pokémon on the shoulder, and threw some sort of cloth into the fire. The four-armed Pokémon looked down, and breathed out flames from his mouth onto the already burning pile, incinerating the new item in seconds. Carrie felt sicker than she had all day, unaware that the demon could actually breathe fire – she had never seen Machamp actually do battle, or… well, do anything other than punch the living daylights out of anything that made it angry.

As her father pulled something else out of the box at his feet, Carrie took her chance to sprint from her spot to the back of her home. Once there, she stepped carefully around it to the porch, walking up the steps backwards to keep her eyes on Machamp and her father's back, then quickly sneaking through the half-open screen door. She hurried to her bedroom, stopping in her tracks as she reached the doorway to find her mother sobbing over the bed, with Pachirisu curled up on the pillow.

"Mom?"

"Carrie!" the woman screamed as she sprang up and hugged her daughter painfully, her tears dripping into Carrie's hair. "Oh, I thought you were never coming back, when I saw you running away, I thought you were going to go try and become a Pokémon trainer! I had Pachirisu follow you though to make sure you were okay, and when you collapsed at the lab, oh, I was so worried…"

"I _am_ going to be a trainer, mom," Carrie lied… or rather, half-lied. Even if Cyndaquil wouldn't go with her, this was her chance to get out for good, and she was going to take it. "I only came home to get some stuff to take with me, and to say good-bye if I happened to see you." Her mother broke away and took a few steps back, horrified, as Carrie continued.

"I can't stay here. Not with them, not after all he's done to us. I am over four years passed the legal age, so there is nothing you or that pig can do to stop me, so don't even try." Carrie waited for her mother to respond, but all she did was shake her head with that same expression of surprise. Hoping her mother understood, Carrie walked calmly over to her bed (her mother quickly stumbled out of the way to the wall) and knelt down to retrieve a beat-up, ripped, old blue backpack she once used for schoolbooks. With a little effort due to her weak body and the heaviness of the bag, Carrie lifted it above her bed and flipped it over, dumping the bag's contents out. She then reached over to the small table at the side of her bed for her phone and her money, however neither was there.

"Mom, where is my phone?" she asked, reaching under her bed again, this time for her box of clothes. She felt around for a minute, feeling nothing but the hard, cold floor.

And then it hit her.

"Mom," Carrie said, standing up and looking at the woman now slumped against the wall beside the closet door. "Where is my phone? And my money, and my clothes?" The woman didn't reply, but that was an answer in itself. Carrie quickly grabbed her backpack and darted furiously from the room, leaving her mother to fall and burst into tears.

Carrie kicked open the screen door, having apparently blown closed by the wind, and actually forced it off the bottom hinges, but she ignored that and stormed down towards her father and his Pokémon, who had looked up at the sound of the breaking door.

"What the hell did you do with my clothes, you damn monster!" Carrie screamed at her father.

The man laughed loudly. "You mean these?" he asked, kicking the box behind him. He snapped his fingers. Without a verbal order, Machamp breathed fire down at the box, burning it and anything still left inside down to ashes.

Carrie screamed with rage and ran at the man, fists in the air. She threw herself at him as soon as she was close, but Machamp simply reached out and grabbed her wrist, whipping her to the side where she stumbled and fell, rolling a few feet further away and squirming in pain before she tried to stand again.

Before she could fully get on her feet, however, Machamp was there. He kicked her powerfully in the gut, launching her another few meters away, where she landed face first in the dirt. She slowly heaved herself up onto all fours and leaned forward, finally vomiting. Before she even finished, her father walked confidently up to her and just stood there, waiting.

When Carrie finally finished, she noticed her father's foot, and looked up weakly at the towering figure above her. She again tried to stand. This time, the man gripped the girl's shoulders and lifted her completely off the ground, and held her up to his face before speaking.

"Get inside," he said fiercely. "You are to wash yourself, and then you will begin preparing my dinner. And from now on, you will be sleeping on the floor. Machamp will be using your bed. You don't deserve one, not after this. You think you can just run away? Never. Now get in the house. Do you understand me?"

Carrie's body ached in pain as he gripped her damaged shoulder. She forced herself to look him in the eye. "You… call that… a house?"

The man roared and thrust the girl from him and she landed harshly on her back. She looked up just in time to see the fat man fall face-first into the dirt, surrounded by what appeared to be tiny sparks. Carrie quickly looked over to the thick tree; Cyndaquil hadn't moved and was watching intently.

"Go, Carrie," shouted her mother from the porch, hurrying down the stairs and running to her daughter. As Carrie stood up, she noticed Blissey by the fire, now engaged in a battle with Machamp, firing a tiny electrical blast at him, which forced him to fall to one knee, momentarily paralyzed, and she understood what had happened. Blissey had used Thunder Wave (which Carrie didn't know she could even learn) against her father and Machamp. She and her mother were trying to give her time to run.

She turned as her mother ran up to her, carrying the only clothes she had left – the damp outfit she'd worn yesterday that had been hanging out to try, pink cap included.

"Thanks, mom," she said, taking the pile of wet clothing and forcing them halfway into her otherwise empty backpack.

"Be careful out there," her mother replied. "I love you."

Just then, Blissey gave a scream, and Carrie only spared a second to look; Machamp had apparently struck Blissey, who was rolling backwards, but a white squirrel had dove from an overhead branch and was now glowing a bright neon blue color as it pumped more electricity into the surprised four-armed Pokémon.

"I love you too," Carrie said. Her mother smiled a teary smile before running to command her Pokémon. Carrie turned also, jogged over to Cyndaquil, and recalled him to his pokéball before sprinting once again into the forest.

* * *

She had only been walking for fifteen minutes when she stopped, hungry and tired, and had to lean against a tree for support. She had ran for about five minutes, she guessed, before deciding it her father wouldn't bother chasing her and she slowed, more due to fatigue than believing she was safe. But now, she was simply too tired to continue any further. After all she'd been through in the last day and a half, she was unsure of how she was even alive, let alone able to still move.

After resting for a few minutes, she removed Cyndaquil's pokéball from her pocket and dropped it to the ground. While she didn't expect to offer him a front row seat to a show, after what he had just seen, Carrie was sure he would offer a full apology and change his mind about her.

"So," she said once he had fully appeared, "do you see why I'm a little edgy?"

"Cyn," Cyndaquil replied thoughtfully, turning away. Carrie had no idea what he'd said, but she guessed the worst. She couldn't believe that after seeing that whole thing, Cyndaquil still thought there was a problem with her. It was too much for her brain to handle.

"Quil?" Cyndaquil squeaked, turning around again, then waited some more. Carrie didn't reply. In fact, she hardly heard him speaking.

"Quiiiiiiiiil," Cyndaquil said, opening his mouth wide.

"I haven't had food… in two days…" Carrie choked out.

Her Pokémon nodded. She looked down as he waddled off into the grass.

_That's it then_, she thought. _He doesn't want to go with me. I have no food. I have no home. Some dream…_

She let her body slide limply down the tree she was leaning against, and made no effort to stop the tears that flooded out of her eyes. She'd have to do it the hard way, then… go out into the wild and catch her own first Pokémon and try to make it obey her. If she even got that far, she reminded herself, as her stomach grumbled once more.

She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, unmoving. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours. A sudden rustle of the grass startled her, however, and she looked up, expecting to be attacked but didn't care enough to try to run.

Instead, she found Cyndaquil walking backwards in her direction, dragging something with his mouth. Carrie, just relieved that she wasn't about to be killed, returned to staring straight ahead into nothing.

"Quil," Cyndaquil said in his high-pitched voice, which was the only reason Carrie noticed that he had spoken. She turned her head slightly to the side to look at him again. He was holding something round and blue in his tiny, extended arms, holding the object out for her to take. She reached over and picked it carefully out of his hands and examined it.

"You got this… for me?" she asked, realizing what the item was – an oran berry.

"Cyndaquil," he said, stepping aside so that the leaf he had been dragging was visible. There were at least a dozen various berries resting on it.

"Where…. How did you even…? " Carrie said as she ate the oran berry whole and reached for a triangular pink one.

Cyndaquil just watched as Carrie ate her way through the entire leaf full of berries. Afterwards, she rested her head against the tree she'd been leaning on, as if she were about to sleep. Cyndaquil tapped his foot on the ground, which caught her attention. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Carrie realized what he was waiting for.

"Oh, thank you for finding me food," she said, attempting to bow her head. Cyndaquil still appeared disappointed, but he nodded anyway and turned to the leaf, and began to nibble on it.

Though Carrie was indeed looking and feeling much better, berries were no substitute for a two days' lack of food. Once she was finished, Carrie felt well enough to continue to New Bark Town at least, where she would have to have a proper meal. Still, there was one matter that needed to be settled first.

"Well… what do you think, Cyndaquil?" Carrie asked as she prepared to leave her resting spot. She watched the Pokémon anxiously, waiting for the reply she knew was coming

The tiny Pokémon thought for a few minutes before replying. Whatever he said didn't take long and afterwards he shrugged, but nevertheless he waddled over and stood by Carrie's side. Carrie didn't know what to make of it.

"Um… right, okay then. Shall we go back to the lab?" Carrie just said, feeling uneasy still. She put his minimized pokéball back into her pocket and began to head down the path to New Bark Town.

* * *

In truth, it was an extremely boring walk. There we no wild Pokémon around, or if they were, they hadn't felt the need to bother the pair. Not that Carrie really minded that, in her current condition. Neither Carrie nor Cyndaquil spoke. While a part of the reason was because she still was unsure if her new partner would stick with her once they got to the lab and had to officially register her as a trainer, she still felt a little dizzy and was having trouble concentrating, so instead she decided it was probably better to not try to make conversation.

Instead, her thoughts turned to her mother. Thoughts of helplessness and despair began to consume her. What was going to happen to her once Blissey and Pachirisu fell? Or, what was happening to her right now? Carrie was sure that even together, her mother's only remaining Pokémon stood no chance of defeating Machamp. She doubted her mother even knew the name of a single attack. Her mother couldn't handle being on a journey and instead settled down with her Pokémon since then. Carrie had fled her home ages ago… though she was unaware of exactly how long it had been, she knew it was long enough to be highly unlikely that the battle was still going on.

Carrie had a sudden, strong urge to rush back. How could she be so selfish as to let her mother put her life in danger for her and just run? An old memory forced itself into her mind… a faceless boy, her childhood friend, swatting away her hand, rejecting her apology for shouting at him, his small voice fresh in her mind as if he'd just spoken: "You're just like your father." Maybe he was right. Maybe she was just like her father.

But she couldn't admit that now. She had just gotten Cyndaquil to trust her… she thought. Turning back now would betray that. And even if she did go back, what could be gained from it? It was most likely that her mother was seriously hurt, if not dead at the hands of that demon Pokémon, and going back would only put herself and Cyndaquil in unnecessary danger. And if she did go back, she would probably have no help in running away again so the chances of escaping a second time were slim-to-none. It would make her mother's decision, her pain, all for nothing.

_No_, she finally decided. _What's done is done. It's too late to do anything about that now. I just have to keep going and do my best and… hope she wasn't killed._

Carrie cried silently for the rest of the walk, right up to the door of Professor Elm's lab.

* * *

"I see," said Elm. "Are you absolutely sure you have changed your mind?"

"Cynda," Cyndaquil replied proudly.

"Right then," Elm said. "Well, Carrie, I knew you could prove yourself a good person, but to have won over Cyndaquil in less than a few hours is simply remarkable! Whatever you have done, you have done it well. Now, you will need a Pokédex and a trainer's license. Please follow me."

Carrie had no idea what to say, as she knew full well that she hadn't actually done anything worthy of Cyndaquil's respect, unless attacking your father unarmed was considered bravery to the little Pokémon or something absurd like that. She saw no reason to trouble anyone with that fact, however.

Elm continued to chat casually as Carrie picked up her Cyndaquil and followed the professor to the back of the room. They were now in the actual lab, where trainers normally received their Pokémon. Elm sat down at a computer, and began typing furiously. Several minutes later, the professor stood up.

"I have sent your registration to the Pokémon League HQ. You are now officially a registered trainer. When you receive a pokédex, you will need to register yourself as the owner, and then you will need to connect it to the league database and it will download your trainer license. Your pokédex will essentially serve as your license. Wherever you are required to show the license, you may show it via your Pokédex, and it will still count." Carrie nodded to show she was listening as the professor went on. "In addition, you will need these," Elm added. He turned and opened a drawer on the desk he had been sitting at. After pulling out a few papers, he then extracted a pokéball belt, specially designed to carry six pokéballs and a pokédex, which he then handed wordlessly to Carrie, before turning around again, this time opening a different drawer.

"Select whichever pokédex you like," he said, stepping aside. "Since you're the last trainer probably for this season, you may as well get to choose."

Carrie carefully placed Cyndaquil and the belt on the desk and then peeked into the drawer. Inside was a large collection of multicolored, rectangular handheld devices. She skimmed them for a second, pulling out a green one and a silver one to compare them. She examined the outer casing of both, opened them, and compared the insides. Other than the colors and the legendary Pokémon depicted on the front cover – the green one had an engraved picture of a long, frightening dragon-like creature, while the silver one featured what appeared to be a great bird with large wings – the pokédexes appeared to all be the same. Carrie replaced them, and pulled out the girliest pokédex she could find – a light pink one with an engraved image of what looked like some sort of kitten with an abnormally long tail. She opened it quickly to make sure it was similar to the previous two, then closed it and looked expectantly at the professor.

"Once you have registered yourself, you will be finished and ready to set out," he repeated, making it clear that she should do that immediately.

"Oh, yeah. Right…" Carrie flipped open her new Pokédex and found the button to activate it, hitting the mute button quickly as it began to play an annoying tune while it booted up. The first screen flashed between a block of text demanding Carrie to scan her eye with the pokéball scanner, and an image of the pokédex showing where the scanner was. She held the device up to her eye and pushed the button. The scanner flashed a bright light, which made her scream.

"What the…? It could have _warned_ me it was about to blind me!" she yelled furiously, blinking several times in order to see again.

"That's why the sound is on by default," Elm said, chuckling despite himself.

Carrie looked back down at the screen. In the time it took for her to regain her sight, the pokédex had already located and downloaded the correct trainer's license. Completely baffled at how the pokédex managed to accomplish that by simply scanning her eye, she confirmed it, and the pokédex went into standby mode, displaying a list of options. She decided to fiddle with the settings later, though, and slipped the closed pokédex into the holder on her new belt.

"You should register your Cyndaquil as well," Elm added. "You will have to do that for every new Pokémon that you don't plan to send to your PC storage system, as those ones will be registered after transport automatically. There are options to do it manually, or you could simply scan his pokéball while he is inside. You will have to do that either way, so it would be easier to just start with it."

Carrie sighed and took out her pokédex again, as Cyndaquil recalled himself wordlessly. She wondered if he still had some sort of problem with her as she held his pokéball up to the scanner. After a second or two, it confirmed the capture with another flash.

"It's going to do that as long as you have the sound off," Professor Elm said. Carrie didn't reply as she let Cyndaquil out again, but she did give him an angry glare, as if it were his fault for having designed them this way. Elm either didn't notice or pretended not to.

Meanwhile, the pokédex had returned to standby mode. Carrie closed it again, rather impressed at both how it found the correct license and how easy it was to register a capture.

"I suppose that's all, then," she said, half expecting the professor to stop her with some other requirement. "Shall we go, Cyndaquil?"

Her Pokémon recalled himself again, without another word. Carrie picked up her belt and fit it hastily around her jeans, only fitting it through a few loops, as she intended to ditch these clothes as soon as she could change into her wet ones.

"Well… thanks, professor."

"You're welcome," Elm replied. "Do be careful out there, and good luck on your quest. Don't forget you can always come home if things are too challenging for you. Be sure to call me if anything comes up."

"Oh, about that… I don't have a phone anymore. It got a little… broken."

"I see," replied Elm. "Well, you should try to pick up a Pokégear, then. They're really quite useful for any trainer, and include more than a simple phone. Be sure you let me know of your new number when you get it."

"Right…" Carrie replied. As if she had enough money for that. She wasn't even sure she was going to be able to afford a meal. Speaking of…

"Professor… you wouldn't happen to have any food I could have before I go, do you?"

After a brief stop in the kitchen, Professor Elm led Carrie through the lab and back to the front door, where he stood out front as he waved good-bye to Carrie, who waved happily in return as she headed back into the forest, trying to remember which pocket in her backpack held her food and which held her Pokémon's.


	3. A More Traditional Beginning

**A/N: **Ch. 3 rewrite. Moving on...

**

* * *

Ch. 3 - A More Traditional Beginning**

The forest was still unusually quiet as Carrie walked along the trail, the only sounds of note coming from the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath her bare feet. She had decided not to take the path that went by her former home, afraid that if she did so, she wouldn't be able to control the urge to check on her mother, however dangerous it might be. Instead she had chosen to take the longer path that looped along the southern end of route 29. By now, she was nearing the end of the route and had just passed the point where the two trails met and combined into one for the final stretch to Cherrygrove City.

Having avoided the danger that she feared would find her, Carrie turned her mind back to other worries. She had been distracted by Cyndaquil's behavior back in the laboratory since she had left. Wondering if she could possibly work out what was wrong if she talked to him, she put her hand into her pocket and was about to grab his pokéball when an odd sound distracted her.

It was a steady thumping sound in the distance behind her, and it seemed to be getting louder. Carrie froze, straining to hear. The thumping was steady, rhythmic, and it was indeed getting louder. Carrie turned around, trying to see what it was that was approaching, but she was too far along the road to see down either of the split paths behind her. In all her life, she had never heard anything like this while exploring the forest, which normally consisted only of bugs, small birds, and the occasional Rattata or Sentret. Afraid of whatever it was that would soon be within view, she decided to hide herself.

Looking around quickly, she spotted a low branch. She easily scaled the smaller tree, having become rather skilled at the art from her various childhood explorations, and used its branches as ledges to climb further upwards onto another nearby tree. She lay down along a thick, leafy branch, wrapping her arms around it, and watched the ground below, her heart beating rapidly in anticipation of whatever was moving down below. It wasn't long before the source of the footsteps came into view. It was a familiar gray, four-armed Pokémon… Machamp?

Carrie stared in horror at Machamp as he walked directly under the branch that held her. He seemed to be stomping his feet deliberately as he walked; he was clearly angry. Without warning, Machamp let out a roar, and rammed his head into the tree directly to his right. Carrie let out a quick squeak as the branch she was clinging to cracked slightly at the base. Miraculously, Machamp didn't seem to hear her, and continued down the path, stopping only to ram into another tree.

Carrie watched him disappear into the trees ahead, frozen in place by the thoughts now all trying to push themselves to the front of her mind. She had never seen Machamp out of the house alone before, or even out of her father's company, for that matter. Could he have been looking for her now? What was he so angry about? Maybe it would be safe to turn back and check on her mother… but what if he came back while she was there? And what about her father? He would surely still be a problem there…

A sudden cracking sound disrupted her from her thoughts. She looked behind her just in time to see the branch she was still holding, not as stable as it appeared, crack again and break completely off from the tree. Letting go, she screamed as she and the large branch crashed to the earth below.

Her first immediate thought was that Machamp had heard her and would come running back at the sound, so Carrie struggled to her feet, stumbled off the trail and hid behind another tree, where she waited in silence. No footsteps were in the distance, however, and after a minute or two, Carrie let out a sigh of relief and let herself slump down the tree truck to the ground. Then she noticed the dull throbbing in her right arm, which she had slammed into the ground when she fell. She just laughed; after being pounded by Machamp for the last eight years, this pain was nothing. At least she didn't land on her injured arm.

She forced herself to her feet, and after double-checking that Machamp hadn't snuck back without her noticing, continued down the path. She was very alert now, though, afraid that she would eventually find him somewhere ahead, and she stopped and looked around whenever she heard a rustle of the grass or a snapping twig, most times caused by her own still-bare feet.

The sun was still high above when Carrie finally reached the outskirts of Cherrygrove. She guessed it was nearing five or six in the afternoon. Her thoughts were wild as she walked onward, trying to think of what she should do first. She needed a great deal of supplies, after all, as well as a place to wash and dry her clothes again. As she stepped onto the pavement, however, she immediately decided to first go and find a pair of new shoes as the hot ground burned the bottom of her feet.

Carrie wondered idly how she was going to pay for new shoes as she passed a small building with a neon blue roof. She looked around for a sign of any sort, curious as to why this building looked different than most of the other ordinary ones she had passed, but was interrupted by an old man calling to her from near the automatic doors. He was bald, wearing something like a dark blue t-shirt and white sweatpants. He also had on sunglasses and what Carrie thought was a lady's sun hat. He was hunched over slightly, leaning on a walking stick. She watched as the old man ran up to her with surprising speed.

"Hey! Hey, you, girl! Yes, you! Are you a rookie trainer?" Carrie nodded slowly, eyebrows raised suspiciously.

"Ah, I thought so. My eyes never lie. I could tell just by looking at you. Maybe it had something to do with your clothes…" he said quietly. Carrie looked down at herself and was surprised to find herself still wearing the baggy jeans and extra large t-shirt. She pulled it over her bandaged left shoulder as the man continued.

"Anyway, please, let me show you around!" the old man exclaimed, grabbing Carrie's wrist and dragging her towards the building he'd been sitting in front of.

"Hey! I know how to walk," Carrie complained as she struggled to pull free from his grip and failed.

"This is a Pokémon Mart, or PokéMart for short," the old man said, ignoring her. "They sell all kinds of useful things for trainers."

"Do they sell shoes?" Carrie asked. The old man shrugged before pulling her along behind him as he ran off.

"I doubt it. You don't need shoes to battle! Now, this building over here…" The old man stopped in front of another building, similar to the PokéMart next to it, except this one had a neon red roof. "This is a Pokémon Center. They will heal your Pokémon if you get hurt, and they usually have free rooms and food for trainers who need to spend the night. Most towns have a Pokémon Center, so you can expect to be seeing them often – just look for the red roof. Now hurry along, one more thing to show you!"

The old man darted off again, still pulling an angry Carrie behind. She gave up trying to break free and focused on keeping up with the old man, who was running awfully fast considering he was using a walking stick. Carrie wondered if it was just for show.

The old man dragged her passed a variety of rather small, plain-looking buildings and houses through the town. Occasionally one of the people on the street would smile or wave at them as if they were used to seeing him dragging people around, and the old man would wave back in return. Carrie grumbled as she struggled to keep up, occasionally stubbing a toe on the uneven pavement and muttering a curse under her breath. The old man finally slowed near what seemed to be a path leading out of town.

"This way leads to route thirty, and eventually to Violet City," said the old man, not even panting or anything. "As a trainer, you should test your skills against the Pokémon Gyms all across the region, and Violet City has the closest one. But be careful on this route, because often you will find other trainers who want to test their abilities too, not to mention wild Pokémon, so you should always be prepared for a battle. And now, I have just one more thing to show you! Follow me!" Carrie didn't have much choice as the old man pulled her back in the direction they came from, wondering how many times the old man would be showing her 'one more thing'.

Despite Carrie's angry threats to scream for help, the old man continued to drag her along. They ran back down the exact streets they had passed through on the way to the exit of town, eventually ending up back at the PokéMart, where the old man finally let go of Carrie's wrist. She rubbed it in her other hand as the old man pulled something out of his pocket.

"This is a gift for you, for keeping me company," he said, handing her a small rectangular item that looked like a computer chip of some sort, though a bit larger. "This is a Map Card. You can install it on your Pokégear and then you will have access to a map of the entire region… you do have a Pokégear, don't you?"

"No, I don't," Carrie replied, stuffing the chip into her backpack. "I planned to buy one when I got here, but I don't have any money and even if I did, I have more important things to buy, like food. And shoes."

"I see, I see," replied the old man, examining Carrie's worn-out clothes again. "Well, I don't normally do this for new trainers, but you look desperate." He reached into his pocket again, this time extracting his wallet. "As I said, the Pokémon Center will provide trainers with food. So, it isn't much, but please take this money and use it to buy yourself a Pokégear. I think if you buy a cheap used model, there will be enough money left for some better-fitting clothes as well but if not, you can always find someone to battle and win yourself the rest."

"I, uh… why are you even helping me? Don't you have anything better to do than pick children off the streets and-"

"Well, if you don't want it…" the old man replied with a sparkle in his eye; he made no motion to withdraw his hand, however Carrie lashed out and swiped the money anyway.

"No, I'll take it. I can't stand around here much longer, my feet are on fire."

"Very well," said the old man, his patience thinning. "But let me offer you one more piece of advice, lass. Not every person you meet out there will be as generous and tolerant as I. You would be wise to start treating others with kindness and respect. Good day."

With that, the old man walked passed her, calling out to another person. Carrie sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she pocketed the old man's money and walked away towards the building with the red roof. Behind her, she could still hear as the old man began shouting.

"Hey, you! Boy! Yes, you, with the pink shirt? Or is it red? My sight isn't what it used to be. Anyway, are you a rookie trainer?"

* * *

Carrie decided against staying overnight, in the hopes that she would reach Violet City before midnight. She had decided to wash her clothes and take a shower, however. She had also taken up the "free food for trainers" deal, by showing her trainer's license to the pink-haired nurse at the main counter. She currently sat alone in the dining area on the Pokémon Center's second floor, her bag on the bench next to her, enjoying a large cheeseburger and looking around the room at the other trainers coming and going. She was quite unconcerned as several trainers shot her confused or disgusted glances after seeing her worn out clothes. One girl in particular, with short, blonde hair and a green dress, constantly looked over at her during her meal that she was sharing with her Pokémon, one Carrie had never seen. The creature was round and red, with black spots on its back, two tiny blank antennae sticking out from the Pokémon's head. It was munching on something in a bowl in front of it, picking up pieces with each of its six arms.

Carrie looked around and noticed that she wasn't the only one; several trainers had their Pokémon out eating with them. Carrie realized that she hadn't fed Cyndaquil since being at Elm's lab yesterday. Yesterday… had it already been a whole day since her brutal encounter with Machamp and had been healed by Blissey?

She reached into her pocket and pulled out Cyndaquil's pokéball, dropping it onto the table beside her plate, where the tiny Pokémon emerged. She wondered if Pokémon could eat human food.

"Hey," she said, setting the other half of her cheeseburger on her plate and passing it to her Pokémon. As hungry as she was, she couldn't deny him food. "You can finish this if you like… you can eat, like, people food, can't you? If not, they probably have something else you'd like."

Cyndaquil didn't seem to be listening. He too seemed to be just examining his surroundings, the colors of the room, the other trainers and their Pokémon. Carrie frowned. She had completely forgotten about his unusual behavior since she brought him back to the lab earlier this afternoon. Upon realizing this, all of her earlier concerns flooded her head once again. She decided she should get this straightened out before it got any worse.

"Hey," she said again, this time prodding her Pokémon gently on the back. Slowly, he turned his head in her direction curiously.

"I was just wondering… are you… is something wrong?" she stumbled.

"Quil?" repeated Cyndaquil in a tone that suggested he honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

"Um, like… ever since you saw that whole fiasco with my dad and that monster of his, and I took you back to the laboratory, you've been rather… I don't know. Quiet. Like you don't want to talk to me."

Her Pokémon simply stared at her.

"Is that right, then?" Carrie said angrily. "Because if it is, then I don't know why you even bothered agreeing to come with me in the first place. We can't win battles if we don't communicate."

"Quil cyndaqul." The Pokémon's tone was calm, but Carrie couldn't make heads or tails of his response other then that.

"Right. We _can't_ communicate. What _was_ I thinking?" Carrie hissed sarcastically. Cyndaquil shook his head vigorously. He waddled up to her, patted her hand, and let out a soft cry before turning and crawling towards the half a cheeseburger.

Carrie sighed as she watched him sniff the burger. She was annoyed at Cyndaquil, annoyed that she couldn't understand her Pokémon. She even knew that she had no logical reason to blame him, though that thought didn't help to change her mind. She tried to make sense out of his actions, and although she thought the head shaking and patting might be a ray of hope, Cyndaquil otherwise still seemed like he couldn't care one way or another about her.

Giving up, Carrie glanced around the room again, spotting the blonde girl and her ladybug. She reached for her backpack to find per pokédex, and mentally smacked herself as she instead found the Pokémon food she'd gotten from Professor Elm.

* * *

As Carrie stepped out of the Pokémon Mart twenty minutes later, she looked to the west… it was getting dark now, and a little chilly also. After Cyndaquil finished eating, she had washed and dried the outfit in her backpack before showering, and afterwards she had thrown away the large t-shirt and jeans, an action that she was now regretting as the cool breeze whipped her exposed legs.

She wondered how long it would take to reach Violet City as she started walking towards route thirty. Surely only a few hours… she could make it tonight, right? According to the clock in the Pokémon Center, it was about ten minutes after eight. She hadn't stayed in the store long, buying nothing but a Pokégear (and then having the saleslady install her Map Card for her) and a pair of running shoes, which she had finally put on to cover her already dirty bare feet.

* * *

Unfortunately, route thirty was much longer than she had anticipated. She had no idea how far along she was and according to her Pokégear clock, it was almost half passed midnight. She was cold and shivering, and wished she had something other than her short, pink skirt to cover her legs.

"So now what am I supposed to do?" she said aloud, angrily. "I should have been there a half hour ago. I can't turn back now and take another who knows how many hours to get back to Cherrygrove for the night, and even if I did, the Pokémon Center is probably closed by now. But who knows how long this route goes on for, and I'm tired…"

She sighed and decided it would be best to at least try to sleep, and began looking for a tree with a large enough branch to hold her, not wanting to sleep in the dirt on the ground. She found one not far along the road and climbed up it with a bit of difficulty, as this time there was no smaller trees to use as a ladder. She finally reached a large branch and after trying out a couple different positions, found one that had her sitting with her back to the trunk and her legs hanging off either side of the branch. While not exactly ideal for sleeping, she at least safe enough to try, and closed her eyes.

She sat quietly for a short time, listening to the noises of the area. Hoothoot flew in and out of her tree on occasion. Somewhere nearby, a river or lake was running, and sometimes a Magikarp would leap out and crash back with a splash. Carrie found all of it unusually relaxing.

Soon enough, though, her peace was disturbed by an odd tingling on her right leg. She groaned and brushed the area without opening her eyes, but recoiled when her hand made contact with something much too hairy to be her own leg. She slowly pulled her new Pokégear out from the blue bag in her lap, aimed the device's faint light towards her leg, and screamed.

The large green spider that sat there, which Carrie recognized as a Spinarak, didn't take kindly to the bright light and forced its blood-red fangs deep into her leg. She had been used to seeing Spinarak back in her dirty trailer, but in the brief light, this one looked at least twice as big as any Spinarak she'd encountered there. Carrie's bag fell to the earth as she shook her leg violently in an attempt to throw the spider off, but that only seemed to anger it as it plunged its two fangs into a spot higher up on her leg.

Carrie jumped from the tree, landing awkwardly on her feet and stumbling as her own weight betrayed her, and she fell forwards into the dirt. Ignoring the pain in her nose, she quickly flipped herself over and kicked at the spider with her left foot, tearing her skin slightly as the spider's fangs were ripped from her leg. The Spinarak was not amused, and tried to run at her again while she stumbled backwards. All three of the spider's yellow left legs were bent awkwardly though due to Carrie's kicks, and it had a hard time moving. Giving up, the spider turned around and shot a thin white string at her from its rear. The string stuck to Carrie's arm, and the Spinarak then began to suck the string back into its body, pulling itself towards the injured girl again.

Carrie grabbed a nearby rock and scraped it harshly against her arm, breaking the string, and scrambled to her feet. She reached down and picked Cyndaquil's pokéball from her belt (which she previously put on unhappily around her skirt when she changed) and threw it forwards. Spinarak had turned around again, watching as Cyndaquil's form began to take shape in the light.

"Damned bugs," Carrie whined. "Cyndaquil, time for our first practice battle. Go ahead and… Oh crap."

She looked down at her first Pokémon. He had emerged from his pokéball curled up tight, fast asleep.

"Wake up, damn it!" Carrie shouted, nudging her Pokémon with her foot.

The Spinarak crawled over to the sleeping Cyndaquil (Carrie jumped back several feet) and climbed on his back before plunging its fangs into him.

"Cyn… quiiiil!" Cyndaquil began with a yawn, then jumped as the spider bit him and turned his head to look at it angrily.

"Cyndaquil, fight it!" Carrie yelled from behind a bush. "Use a… wait, what can you do again?"

Cyndaquil didn't answer. Instead, his back began to let off smoke as he forced his natural fire to ignite. The Spinarak didn't have time to remove its fangs from his body before he flared up and engulfed it. Screeching in pain, the spider pulled out his fangs and leapt to safety. Cyndaquil turned around now, and out of his mouth came a flurry of tiny fireballs. Most of them scorched the already smoking Spinarak, who cried out again, but a few of them had been aimed too high and Carrie had to dive out of the way to avoid her skirt catching on fire. The bush wasn't as fortunate.

"Hey, watch where you're aiming!" she said angrily as she glared at her Pokémon while pulling herself to her feet.

"Cynda," Cyndaquil replied as he ran forwards and rammed his body into the burning spider.

"Right… well try Ember again, but aim more carefully!"

Cyndaquil nodded and opened his mouth again, sending another barrage of fireballs at the Spinarak. The attack was much better controlled this time.

"That's perfect," Carrie said as she dropped down on her right knee. Her leg was beginning to ache uncomfortably, painfully. She winced as she picked an empty pokéball off her belt.

"Cyndaquil, wait a second," she called as he was about to shoot more fireballs at the cringing spider, and threw the pokéball at it. The spider was transformed into a red light and sucked inside, and the ball closed and fell to the ground where it shook as the spider tried to escape. Carrie and Cyndaquil watched as the ball shook, and even bounce once, before slowly becoming still and the red light on the button faded with a ping.

"I got it…" she said weakly. She stood up and limped to the spot where the pokéball sat, picked it up, and fit it into her belt before collapsing to her knees again. She wondered vaguely how many more times she was going to end up collapsing before her journey was over.

"Quil?" asked Cyndaquil with a yawn as he walked lazily to his trainer.

"I think… I think that Spinarak poisoned me," Carrie said, beginning to panic.

Cyndaquil yawned again as Carrie sat down and examined her leg by the firelight from the bush. The two spots where the spider had bitten her had since stopped bleeding, but the skin underneath had turned a sickening purple color. She pressed a finger to one of the bites and recoiled in pain again as the mark started to bleed again.

"Disgusting," she complained. "Damn, I hate bugs so much… it's spreading."

"Cyn? Cyndaquil asked, still sounding completely unconcerned. Carrie was too panicked to care.

"The poison. I can feel it traveling. I mean… My whole leg has gone numb… oh god, what do I do? I'll never get to Cherrygrove fast enough and I don't think we're anywhere close to Violet City. Oh god, oh god…"

"Uh, excuse me," said a boy. Carrie jumped slightly, startled; she hadn't seen or heard the boy approaching. Apparently Cyndaquil didn't either; he was crouched down now, ready to attack on command. The boy's Pokémon, a small, yellow fox-like creature that had been floating behind its trainer, landed in front of Cyndaquil with its arms curled into fists.

"Whoa, take it easy, killer," the boy said as he took a step back, his hands up in surrender. "I just want to help out the pretty lady over there, okay?" He stepped forwards again, but Cyndaquil growled and he retreated once more.

"I'm not gonna hurt her," he said angrily. "Abra, back off." The boy's Pokémon obeyed, lowering its fists and floating lazily up to the boy's shoulder.

"Relax, Cyndaquil," Carrie said weakly. "You can help me?"

"Yeah," the boy replied, stepping forward for a third time. Cyndaquil remained crouched over, but allowed the boy to proceed. He walked purposefully slow, his eyes fixed on Cyndaquil even as he knelt down beside Carrie. Confident that the Pokémon wasn't going to attack him, he turned to her and examined her leg in the light.

"Mild poisoning," he said. "No antidotes?"

"Mild?" Carrie whined. "Ugh, it burns… no, no antidotes. I couldn't afford…" her voice trailed off.

"Here," the boy turned and pulled his own bag off his shoulder before extracting a small, yellow spray bottle from it. Holding it over the darker of the two bites on Carrie's leg, he said, "This is going to sting a little."

Carrie bit her lip, trying to force herself not to scream as the antidote spray sunk into the cuts in her skin, but as the boy sprayed the second bite, she couldn't hold back a yelp of protest. Her leg stung much more furiously, bringing tears to her eyes that she blinked back.

Meanwhile, the boy had put the bottle back into his bag, and was now pulling out several others. Having her first chance to get a good look at him, Carrie examined him in the faint light after blinking enough to clear out most of the water. He looked young, probably another new trainer. His sandy hair was extremely short and appeared to have a little too much hair gel in it. He was wearing what appeared to be his pajamas; a silky red-patterned button-up shirt, and a matching pair of pants. Topping it all off was a pair of Buneary slippers on his feet. Carrie couldn't resist laughing at the sight.

"Like my slippers?" the boy asked. Carrie's face went red and she stopped laughing immediately, realizing that he was now watching her intently. She stared back at him with an eyebrow raised as he stared at her for a few seconds more before she cleared her throat.

"Erm, anyway," the boy said, "you should take these, they're potions. And there are a few antidotes also. You really shouldn't be wandering around without them."

He motioned to the group of bottles he had set out. Carrie counted nine purple ones, which she assumed to be the potions, and four yellow ones, the antidote sprays. She wondered if he had given her his whole stash.

"Um… thanks," she said as he stood up, picked up Carrie's bag and Pokégear, and carried them back to her. She gathered up the bottles and hastily dumped them into her backpack with her Pokégear, and allowed the boy to help her stand. She noticed that she was several inches taller than him.

"How's your leg?" he asked. Carrie shifted her weight to her right leg momentarily, and then jumped on it once.

"Seems to be better. It doesn't sting as bad, anyway. But I can't really feel anything…"

"Don't move it too much. You'll be fine in the morning. I'm Sam, by the way. Sam Riley."

"Carrie White. And no, I do not like Stephen King."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"Huh. Okay," the boy called Sam said. "Well, I'm glad you're unharmed." And he gave her a tight hug.

"Ow!" Carrie gasped, eyes widening in pain; Sam was putting pressure on her injured arm. Sam released her at once. "Do _not_ do that."

"Oh, sorry," he said. Carrie thought his face had turned red, but it was hard to tell in the unnatural lighting. "So, uh, do you need a place to sleep? I have a tent just this way."

Carrie hesitated. She could go back into her tree, but the thought of being exposed to more poisonous bugs was less appealing than sleeping in a tent with a ten-year-old boy who just saved her life. Or had he? Carrie wasn't sure if the poison were actually fatal, only that it was painful. He said it was only mild, after all. Still, what did it matter anyway, so long as she wasn't in the dirt?

"Alright," she sighed, her panic being replaced by exhaustion. She turned to Cyndaquil, who had fallen asleep on a nearby boulder with his flame still lit. She was about to speak, but when she noticed that he was asleep, she just recalled him, then turned back to Sam. "Lead the way."

After having Abra safely put out the fire with its psychic abilities, Carrie climbed after Sam into a small tent hidden back down the path in a clearing behind some bushes. Carrie wondered how Sam had been sleeping in here; even on his own, the tent seemed too small for a single person to sleep comfortably. And here they were, trying to squeeze two people plus their belongings into it. Carrie sighed and removed her pokéball belt, placing it safely along the edge of the tent. At least it was better than being bitten in her sleep, she kept reminding herself. As she lay down, she noticed Sam, already comfortably in place, watching her.

"You have a really pretty face," he said, stroking her cheek with his hand.

"You're ten, dude," Carrie said, sounding more disgusted than grateful, and pushed his hand away harshly before rolling onto her other side. "Goodnight."

"Thirteen," Sam corrected. Carrie ignored him.


	4. Trial and Error

**A/N: **Ch. 4 rewrite. Yep.

**

* * *

Ch. 4 - Trial and Error**

Carrie awoke the next morning to find a slight, odd weight on her stomach. She sat up slightly. Either by accident or otherwise, Sam's hand had found it's way over her body.

"Ugh," she grunted, throwing Sam's hand back over himself. She hastily grabbed her backpack and belt, and struggled over Sam to his end of the tent, where she attempted to unzip it and failed; the zipper seemed to be caught on itself somehow.

"Ow!" Sam cried from behind her. She looked back; she had forgotten he was there as she tried taking her anger out on the zipper, and her feet were now digging into his back.

"Serves you right," she said furiously, turning back to the zipper.

Sam retreated to the other side of the tent, though that hardly spared him; the tent was so small that it just gave Carrie more room to stretch her legs, so Sam moved again, squeezing into the far corner.

"What does that mean?" he asked, curiosity rather than anger in his voice.

"You know full well what I mean," Carrie shouted back, now turning away from the zipper completely. "I knew it was a stupid idea to let you talk me into sleeping in here with you."

"But I didn't talk-"

"Just save it," said Carrie angrily, turning now to her bag.

"What did I even do?" Sam asked, still with a tone of genuine curiosity. Carrie turned once again to face him.

"I woke up this morning to find your arm wrapped around me. I should have known you'd take advantage of me while I slept. And don't you even try to deny it."

"But I… I really didn't do it on purpose. I toss and turn in my sleep a lot. And there isn't much room in here… I think I fell asleep before you, actually."

"Whatever," she responded, having no other counter argument. She turned around yet again, picking Cyndaquil's pokéball off her belt. She dropped it rather hard on the ground, and the little fire mouse emerged curled up, still sleeping.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Getting out of this tent. Cyndaquil, wake up, damn it."

"You can't just burn it open! You'll kill us both! Let me do it."

"You have ten seconds," Carrie said.

Sam hurriedly crawled to the tent's exit as Carrie moved aside. He apparently was used to dealing with the tent's stuck zipper, and had no trouble opening it. He smiled at Carrie as she pushed passed him with her bag and belt.

She was already walking away down the road when Sam crawled out of the tent and called to her.

"You forgot something!"

Carrie rolled her eyes and looked back. Cyndaquil had just come out of the tent behind Sam, yawning. Carrie sighed and walked back.

"What do you say to a battle?" Sam suggested randomly. "Nothing better to help you wake up."

Carrie thought for a second and decided she'd have to do it sooner or later, and it would be better to take on someone she might stand a chance against in her first-ever battle. "You're on," she replied. "Cyndaquil, you're up."

This seemed to catch the Pokémon's attention. He waddled over to stand in front of Carrie, though he yawned again. Sam eyed him for a moment before picking his own pokéball.

"Go, Abra!" he shouted as he threw it. The Pokémon emerged in white light, though it too still appeared to be asleep. "Use confusion!" Sam ordered.

"Uh… try an Ember," Carrie countered.

Abra was faster. The yellow Pokémon took on a faint blue glow before raising its arms. The blue glow then surrounded Cyndaquil also, who was then lifted off his feet and sent flying into a tree.

"That's totally unfair," Carrie complained. "It's a bloody psychic, how can I fight that? It's attacking me in its sleep!"

"It's likely that you'll find other psychics, you'll just have to… find a way," Sam replied sheepishly.

"Ugh, damn it. Cyndaquil, do that Ember."

"Abra, Teleport behind it and use Hidden Power," Sam responded.

Cyndaquil waddled back to his earlier position, looking mostly unharmed. The fire on his back ignited as he shot a barrage of little fireballs from his mouth. The Abra, however, vanished on the spot. Cyndaquil's fireballs sped on, only to ignite Sam's tent.

"Hey!" he yelled. "No! My stuff!"

Abra had reappeared behind Cyndaquil, but simply floated there as he, Cyndaquil, and Carrie all watched Sam bravely dive into the flaming tent and begin flinging things out of it. Sam's backpack caught a stray flame as it was flung through the opening, and ignited as it fell to the dirt. Abra floated forward, grabbing the blanket that Sam and Carrie slept in last night, which was now also on fire since Sam had tossed it outside, and tried to beat it over the backpack, putting out the fire before it damaged the contents.

It worked. The fire on the backpack was out, but the blanket was starting to burn harder. Abra tossed it away as the flames licked his hands. Carrie began to scoop up dirt from the ground and toss it onto the blanket, with Cyndaquil and Abra joining in as Sam dove back out of the tent, choking and coughing from the smoke.

* * *

"I… I'm sorry about your tent," Carrie said as they walked. Sam had managed to save his Pokémon and his backpack, but the blankets, Sam's alternate clothing, and the tent itself were burned to ashes. They had set off again after making sure the fire was completely out.

"That's okay," Sam replied. "It was old anyway. We won't be able to leave town now, though, unless we're sure we can make it to the next one before nightfall. I can't afford another tent."

"What do you mean, 'we'? I don't know what you're goals are, but I am _not_ waiting for you. I'm getting my badge in Violet City and leaving. How much farther, anyway?"

"It could be another day or two, depending on how fast we move."

"_What_?"

"Well… you didn't think you'd have made it there from Cherrygrove in just a few hours, did you?"

Carrie ignored him. "Where the hell are we going to spend the night, then? I am _not _sleeping out in the wild to get attacked by poisonous bugs again, no thank you." Sam had no answer.

The silence lingered as they walked on, speeding up the pace. Carrie couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about burning Sam's tent, but she didn't see traveling with him as an appropriate payment of her debt. With her limited money, it wasn't likely that she could afford a new one, either. She decided to buy him lunch when they arrived in town, hoping that would be satisfactory, but then remembered that trainers were provided meals. Unable to think of a proper compensation, she pushed the thought out of her mind to deal with later; since Cyndaquil had battled for her twice now, she considered the problem solved.

Her thoughts again turned to her mother, as they often did recently when she had spare time. The shock of seeing Machamp roaming outside Cherrygrove had apparently pushed away her common sense; while she had feared her mother's fate, she hadn't even considered simply calling her before. Even as she realized this, though, she remembered that it would be pointless. Machamp had ripped their only phone from the wall and tossed it at her a few weeks ago and they had never bothered to try to repair it, and certainly couldn't afford a new one.

No matter what she thought, her mother's fate boiled down to the only clue she really had; Machamp. Why in the world was he out of the house? He hadn't even looked injured, so he couldn't have possibly lost to Blissey and Pachirisu… not that that was a surprise, but still. Unless Blissey had healed him? Either way, he was the only clue she had, so she had to find him.

"I have to go back," she said suddenly, stopping in her tracks. Sam looked around, realized that Carrie stopped walking, and walked back to her.

"Go back?" he asked.

"To Cherrygrove. There's… something I have to find."

"Why? Find what?"

"Look, it's none of your business, okay?" Carrie snapped. "I'm going back."

"Maybe I can help," Sam pleaded. "Abra can teleport us back there, and then I can help you find whatever it is you lost."

"I didn't lose anything," Carrie said. She thought for a minute… it could save time to have Sam help find Machamp, she didn't need to tell him why. On the other hand, who knows what Machamp would do to them? Would it really be right to ask him to risk his life? Then again, why should she care? It couldn't hurt to ask, he didn't have to accept.

"Alright," she decided. "I need to find a Machamp. It's my dad's, and I… I need to talk to him."

"A Machamp?" Sam asked. "If it belongs to your dad, why would it be back in Cherrygrove? Do you live there?"

"I don't know," Carrie replied, ignoring his question about her home. "But I saw him headed there just before I got there. I don't even know if he's still there, or why he would be, or even where he would be, but I need to talk to him. And he's… dangerous. Bit of a temper problem."

"Guess that's where you get it from," Sam teased. Carrie confirmed his accusation by almost punching him, but he backed away with his hands in the air. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Anyway… he's not in Cherrygrove."

"What? What do you mean? How do you know?"

"I saw him," Sam said. "About an hour before I found you last night. I had set up my tent, and I heard this stomping in the distance. I didn't want to be in the way, so I just hid in a bush, and… well, he came stomping passed me, punching trees as he walked. And then a little while later, when I heard your scream, I thought maybe he had attacked you or something. I mean, I know it was an hour later by then, but…"

Carrie stopped listening. So Machamp had already passed this way… Was he heading to Violet City? What in the world would he want there? There was only one explanation that Carrie could come up with: he really was looking for her.

Suddenly Carrie felt herself being shaken rather forcefully. "Hey, are you even listening? Stop spacing out!"

"Fine," Carrie said, and Sam stopped shaking her. "You can come with me. On two conditions. First, you help me find Machamp so I can talk to him, and help me fight him if we have to."

The enthusiasm in Sam's bright eyes faded, being replaced with unmistakable fear, but he nodded anyway.

"Second," Carrie continued as she turned away and started walking down the road again, "you don't slow me down."

* * *

It took the pair another day to reach Violet City. They camped out in a small cave they found shortly after switching to route thirty-one. Cyndaquil slept outside his pokéball that night, fire lit. They were awakened by Sam early in the morning, shouting. Apparently, he had caught one of the cave's resident Zubat.

The pair resumed their walk after a quick breakfast, compliments of Sam, and a quick chat about how unusual it was that they didn't spot any other trainers so far. It had still taken about five hours from their camping spot alone, but they arrived at Violet City's limits early in the afternoon, plenty of time to go sightseeing.

Carrie and Sam headed first to the Pokémon Center, where Carrie booked them each a room to spend the night. They also left Spinarak and Abra in the nurse's care before they headed out to search for Machamp. Carrie kept Cyndaquil with her, not wanting to be unarmed if they did eventually find him. Sam assured her that Zubat could protect him, despite her clearly doubtful criticism of the new Pokémon. Regardless, they split up to search the city.

Instead of searching for Machamp, Carrie checked her new map for the gym. According to Sam, gyms were the best place to test a trainer's skills. Not that Carrie was confident in her own battling ability, but she nevertheless wanted to get some experience. More importantly, she wanted to ask the gym leader for his help; she still didn't believe that Sam and his two Pokémon stood a chance against Machamp, should they meet.

It didn't take long to reach the gym. The building was one of the tallest in the city (though not _the_ tallest; that honor belonged to a wooden tower far north of the Pokémon center), and had the word 'GYM' in flashing neon lights above the entrance. Carrie felt terribly embarrassed that she had not spotted it sooner and was thankful that no one seemed to be near enough to notice her beet-red face. The girl walked up to the door of the large building and attempted to pull the doors open, but they didn't budge. Feeling silly, she shoved against it instead, however the door remained tightly sealed. She stepped away, her face flushing again. If the doors were locked, then the gym was clearly closed. But why?

She wandered around to the side of the building where she spotted some trashcans. She attempted to climb onto one, intending to use it to peek into one of the high windows of the building, but the can couldn't support her weight and tipped over. Luckily for Carrie, the can she tried to get on top of turned out to be empty, so she wasn't covered in any trash when she was dumped to the dirt.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" said a voice. Carrie looked around from her spot on the dirt to see a boy watching her. His voice indicated that he was no older than her, though his dark hair and piercing blue eyes seemed to suggest otherwise. He seemed to be wearing some sort of blue full-body suit; Carrie might have thought the boy had just been scuba diving if it weren't for the rather angry looking Spearow on his shoulder.

"I was trying to look inside the gym," Carrie replied as she stood up. No doubt she looked foolish and rather suspicious on the ground leaning on a fallen trashcan. "The doors are locked. I wanted to see the leader."

"Oh, new challenger, huh?" the boy replied. "See, Violet City doesn't really get many trainers this late in the season. Just last year, they gym leader thought it would be a good idea to set up a special festival to draw in a crowd. The gym is closed while the leader helps set things up. He's in charge of the whole thing too, since he doesn't get many challengers around this time."

"Great…" Carrie said, disappointed. She'd have to wait until after this festival to try to get her first badge, then. More unsettling, though, was that she would be on her own if she found Machamp. She wondered where he might be now, if maybe he had come through here before the gym closed and moved on already or if he, like her, found the gym empty. Knowing Machamp, the doors would have been broken down if he had shown up to find them locked. Carrie couldn't imagine what he might want at the gym, though she also couldn't imagine why he traveled out here in the first place.

_Well, either way_, she thought, _I'll have to stick around town for a few days if I want that badge_. "So, what's this festival about, anyway?" she asked the boy, who had been staring at her while she stared at the gym, thinking to herself.

"They hold it at the Sprout Tower," he explained, pointing to the tallest building in the city. "I guess you don't know the legend, but the tower is supposed to have originally been a really tall Bellsprout. The tower itself was built in honor of it. The festival, too, is in honor of the Bellsprout. The main event is this huge tournament, they say even the elder participates. I mean, he did last year, anyway."

"Tournament?" Carrie questioned. "Like, battles?"

"Yeah. Last year, there were so many people, they had to pair them up."

"So then, anyone can enter?"

"As long as you have two Pokémon, yeah. It's open to the public. It would be stupid to hold a festival to draw people in and then not let them participate, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it would," Carrie said. "So, where do I sign up?"

"At the entrance to the tower," the boy replied. "You can't do it now, though. The festival is in two days, but they're not accepting registrations until tomorrow morning."

Carrie sighed. "So I can't get my badge, I can't apply for the tournament, and I guess I can't go check out the tower either while they're setting up, so what am I supposed to _do_ for two whole days?"

"How about a battle?" the boy suggested. Having yet to have a complete trainer battle since nearly burning Sam alive, Carrie decided the practice was too valuable to pass up.

"All right," she said, "but I only have one Pokémon with me. I left the other one at the Pokémon Center."

"Fair enough," the boy replied, picking a pokéball from his belt. Carrie had been sure he was about to send in his Spearow, who had remained quite silent on the boy's shoulder this whole time. Instead, his ball opened to reveal a small blue Zubat. The eyeless flier screeched angrily, trying to both cover its nonexistent eyes and stay airborne at the same time, and failing.

"Show time, Cyndaquil," Carrie called as she released her starter. The fire type looked wearily at the Zubat, who had given up trying to shield himself from the bright afternoon sun and was now hovering near his trainer's head.

"Let's start this off with, uh…" Carrie had to stop and think. Zubat wouldn't be easy to tackle while in the air. That left Ember as her only offensive option. What else could Cyndaquil do? "Use Ember!"

"Counter with a Gust attack!" the boy shouted. Cyndaquil lit the fire on his back before launching a barrage of tiny fireballs at the flying bat, while the furious beating of the Zubat's wings generated a blast of wind. The swirling miniature tornado easily dispersed the tiny flames, as well as pushing Cyndaquil backwards.

"Hold on," Carrie said irritably, taking out her pokédex and pointing it at Zubat. The pokédex didn't seem to respond, but when Carrie looked at the screen, a blob of text had appeared and she remembered that she had turned the audio off. Passing over Zubat's data, she checked their list of moves instead to get an idea of this Zubat's level. She noted, however, that Gust was not on Zubat's list of natural abilities. Further down the list, she found that Zubat could learn a variety of attacks in addition to their natural ones, including Gust, with a bit of focused training. Curious, she pointed her pokédex at Cyndaquil next, who had turned his head to see why his trainer stopped calling orders.

"Zubat, use Supersonic!" the boy shouted, tapping his foot impatiently. His Pokémon responded obediently, opening his mouth and letting out an odd sound wave.

"Hey!" Carrie whined as Cyndaquil crouched to the ground in pain from a sound that was too high for Carrie's ears to hear.

"You can't just pause a battle," the boy responded. Carrie hissed in annoyance and quickly scanned Cyndaquil's current abilities as the boy continued. "Do a Leech Life attack!"

"Smokescreen!" Carrie ordered, after seeing the move on Cyndaquil's list. Her Pokémon, still covering his nonexistent ears, began letting off a large cloud of smoke from his back, much like he had done back in Elm's lab. The Zubat, who had flown in for his close-range attack, quickly pulled up, avoiding the cloud that had hidden his opponent.

"Now, Tackle it!" Before the boy could reply, Cyndaquil had leapt from the smoke and rammed his body into the bat, throwing him back, but he regaining his flight easily. "Now get back in the smoke," Carrie ordered, and her Pokémon obeyed.

"Have it your way," the boy responded. "We could just blow that away, but why don't we show off a bit? Zubat, find Cyndaquil and aim an Air Cutter at it. And keep your distance!"

Carrie flipped back to Zubat's list. Air Cutter was another move that Zubat couldn't learn without proper training; the boy was better than his appearance let on.

"Um, try another Ember," Carrie suggested, unable to think of anything else to do. Cyndaquil agreed, and another small barrage of fireballs erupted from the smoke. Unable to aim, Cyndaquil's attack didn't even come close to the Zubat, who meanwhile was using his natural ability to see with ultrasonic waves to find the fire Pokémon. As the Zubat received confirmation of Cyndaquil's location, he flapped his little wings in specific patterns, causing tiny blades of air to shoot into the smoke. Cyndaquil screamed from somewhere inside the cloud even as the wind blew it away. When it had all but dissolved, Cyndaquil was laying on the ground, unmoving.

"I guess I win," the boy said. Carrie returned her fallen Pokémon to his pokéball wordlessly before reaching into her bag, pulling out half of her money and handing it over to the winner. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you were really predictable," the boy continued. "You should never rely on Smokescreen against a flying type, they can blow it away easily. Oh, and unless your Pokémon has some special vision, it'll have just as much trouble seeing its opponent as they will have seeing it."

"I'll remember that," Carrie answered resentfully. "Why didn't you tell me you were so much more experienced?"

"Experienced? Oh, you mean the special moves? I'm a junior trainer at the gym. I guess I forgot to mention that."

"No kidding."

"Oh, come on, don't be a sore loser, now," the boy said, frowning.

"I need to go heal my Pokémon," Carrie said bitterly. She walked passed him without waiting for a reply, waiting until she was out of his vision before pulling out her pokégear map and heading towards the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Carrie didn't like the thought of wandering around town alone, so after leaving Cyndaquil with the nurse, she headed upstairs to her room. The card attached to her key stated that she was to be in room number twelve. It wasn't hard to find, and Carrie entered it eagerly. The room was very simple, with nothing more than a comfy looking bed, a nightstand with a lamp underneath a window that allowed a clear view of the Sprout Tower to the north, and a tiny square carpet that covered most of the floor. Carrie was pleased with the room despite the simplicity; after all, it was still more luxurious than a tree or a cave, or even her bug-infested room back home. She hastily tossed her old blue backpack onto the bed from the doorway, backed out of the room, and locked her door, then turned and knocked on the one behind her, Sam's room. No one answered, however. Carrie shrugged and put her key behind her pokédex on her belt, having no pockets in her skirt, and decided to go for dinner alone.

She wasn't sure what had made her think to invite Sam, she realized as she made her way into the cafeteria. If she were completely honest with herself, she found him to be rather annoying. He really did seem to want nothing more than to help, though… She pushed the thought to the back of her mind to deal with later, next to what she was going to do about his tent, focusing instead on what to eat.

With both of her Pokémon currently being treated, Carrie had no one to talk to so she took to looking around the room as she ate. There was not a lot of activity in the small room, besides other trainers getting their meals. Carrie found herself mentally mocking quite a few of the other trainers' unusual looks. While there were several other normal-looking people about, there certainly was no lack of… creativity. Quite a few of them looked like circus people, and Carrie wondered why in the world anyone would want their hair a bright, shiny blue.

One girl in particular caught her eye. She was sitting alone in the farthest corner of the room, eating something which Carrie couldn't see because the girl's back was facing her. The girl had very long hair of an unusual dark green color. Her outfit was at least a little more normal, a navy button-up shirt and a short black skirt. She seemed to be talking into her black pokégear as she ate, or at least that's what Carrie assumed upon seeing the device held up to the girl's ear.

The sight sparked something in her mind. She had never called Professor Elm to inform him of her new number. As she took another bite of the pizza slice she'd picked up, she reached for her own pokégear, only to remember that she had left it in her bag, which she had left in her room. She sighed and hoped she'd remember to call him later.

As she approached the trash bins on the far side of the room, she could hear the green-haired girl whispering, probably into her pokégear's phone. She seemed to stop talking completely as Carrie tossed her garbage, but as soon as she started away, the whispering started again. Carrie hesitated, listening to the girl's half of the conversation.

"Sorry, another person. As I was saying, the tournament is two days away, what do you mean that isn't enough time? … Oh come on, we've pulled bigger jobs with less time. … Well, no, but… No… I didn't say that. … Okay, you know what, fine, you win. Whatever. … What? … Of course I wouldn't try it alone, do you think I'm an idiot? … No sir. Sorry sir. … No, but then since I have nothing better to do until you give me a real assignment, I'm still going to enter the tournament myself. … I just said I wasn't going to do anything! … Yes sir. I'll report in again in a few days, after the tournament."

The girl slammed her pokégear angrily on the table and began to stand up. Carrie took that as her signal to leave, moving as quietly as she could towards the exit, all the while trying to make sense of what she heard. It wasn't hard to figure out that the girl had some dirty trick up her sleeve. But whoever she was talking to didn't seem to want her to go through with it…

Her thoughts were interrupted as she bumped into someone who had been walking in the opposite direction.

"Watch where you're- oh, it's you." Carrie looked down at the stranger, who turned out to be Sam.

"Hey," he said. "I thought you'd be out. I've been searching the ruins down south all day. And guess what, I caught a Mareep! But it was getting late so I thought I should get back here before it got too dark. We never set a time to meet up anyway, but I'm glad I found you, you have my room key."

"Congratulations," Carrie said. "Now why were you out catching Pokémon all the way- wait, what are you talking about? I don't have your key."

"Yeah, you do. You booked the rooms, remember?"

"I left your key on the counter for you to take, you idiot!"

"Oh… well I didn't know! Now what will I do?"

"You didn't know? What, did you think my key unlocked both doors and the second one was given to me by mistake? Go to the nurse downstairs and tell them you lost it," Carrie said angrily. "Now if you don't mind, I need to use the bathroom."

Sam just watched as she walked away down the hall, turned the corner, and disappeared from view.


	5. A New Friend

**A/N: **Cue Ch. 5 rewrite!

* * *

**Ch. 5 - A New Friend**

Dawn had only just broken as Carrie awoke the next morning. She was still extremely tired, having gotten very little sleep the night before. Thoughts of the strange girl with the dark green hair buzzed around her brain, keeping her awake. What little sleep she did get was full of nightmares involving Machamp, her parents, and that odd, freezing white light, causing her to wake up at least twice in the middle of the night.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep any further regardless of how long she laid there, Carrie forced herself out of bed. After hastily combing her hair with her fingers so that it didn't look a total mess, she grabbed her backpack and slumped down the hallway and downstairs, still in the pajamas that Sam had been thoughtful enough to buy her yesterday, heading for the main counter. Even this early, a young man with bright orange hair sat there to operate the healing machine. He was currently playing a game of solitaire on the computer with a glazed look in his eyes.

"Excuse me," Carrie said. The boy grunted in response, his eyes not leaving the monitor before him. "I want to get my Pokémon back. And, um, I need to extend the loan on my room for a few days."

The boy glared at her, clearly not enjoying being awake so early. Carrie guessed that he didn't expect to have to do any work during his shift, but she felt no remorse for him as he lazily rolled back his chair and stood up, stretching.

"Name?" he asked with a yawn.

"Carrie White."

The boy was still in his pajamas also, Carrie noticed, as he dragged his feet through a door behind the counter. It didn't take him long to return. He placed a tray with Carrie's pokéballs on the counter and sat down again, pausing his solitaire game to look her up on the computer.

"How long are you extending your stay?"

"Just two nights," Carrie said after a small hesitation, during which she planned out the next few days in her head; She would probably spend today searching for Machamp, and would need the room tonight. The tournament was tomorrow, and in all likeliness, she would have to wait until the following day for the gym to re-open, which meant a second night.

"Done," said the boy after changing the departure date.

"Don't you need identification?" Carrie asked, ready to pull out her pokédex. The boy waved her off, resuming his game.

"Eh. You needed it to get a room in the first place. Why check it again?"

"Because it's your job?" Carrie responded angrily. "And because this way, anyone could just walk in here and claim to be someone else and say they're leaving early or something."

"Look, girl, why you gotta complain? I made it easy for you." Carrie rolled her eyes.

"Never mind. Just make sure that if anyone comes in here using my name and it isn't me to call the cops on their ass."

"An' who d' you expect is going to be using your name?"

"That's not the po- ugh, never mind." She silently picked up her pokéballs and dropped them into her backpack. Unsure of what to do, being too tired to begin searching the city, she wandered into the small lounge area.

The room was quite large and open, the most probable reason being that Violet City was home to the first official gym in the Johto region, and this Pokémon center had one of the higher numbers of visitors and hopeful newbie trainers in the region as a result, at least during the first few months of the season. Carrie walked to the chair nearest to the mounted flat screen television and fell into it, exhausted. She had picked up the remote from the table in the center of the lounge, which held various magazines and newspapers, and turned on the T.V.

The volume was low, so Carrie had no idea what the newscaster who appeared on screen was saying, but there was a small image of Professor Elm beside her. The image of the professor reminded Carrie that she had yet to call him, and decided she should do it now before she forgot again. Uncaring about the time, she pulled her pokégear from a pocket on her blue backpack and dialed his number. It rang twice before sending her to an automated message. Carrie sighed; if it were early enough for a Pokémon center to be open, the professor ought to be awake also. Perhaps he was simply out feeding breakfast to the Pokémon at the lab.

The recording ended with a beep, and Carrie left her message short.

"Hi professor, this is Carrie White. Sorry for calling so early, and sorry I haven't called since I left, I only just bought this pokégear. I'm in Violet City right now. I don't actually know the number on this thing but it should show up on your caller ID thinger so… okay, well, I'm tired, so I hope things are okay and I guess I'll talk to you whenever."

She looked up as she hung up the phone to see the boy at the counter hastily look away from her. She rolled her eyes again, looking back to the TV, but the boy spoke:

"You know Elm, eh? Hope he's all right. I hear there was some accident just a little ways away from the town, on route twenty-nine."

Carrie's heart skipped a beat. "What kind of accident?"

"Some log cabin down there was found completely trashed. Not sure how, but the news report said it looked like a bomb hit the place. Didn't find no one inside, at least. You know who owned that little shack?"

"….What?" was all Carrie could force out. It was the counter boy's turn to roll his eyes.

"Pay attention next time, lady."

"I heard you," Carrie responded. "I just… that was my house."

"Oh, was it? Good thing you wasn't home, then."

"You said they didn't find any people or Pokémon in the wreck, right?"

"Yep. The place looked a mess, but if anyone had been in there, I think some traces would have been found. Blood, body parts, you know."

Carrie felt sick. She knew immediately that Machamp was responsible for destroying her house. However, something was wrong with that, too. Why would Machamp turn on her father, his trainer and friend? His home was Machamp's home. That fact struck her as odd, considering how similar the two were, how well they seemed to get along. What could have caused Machamp to suddenly turn on him? Was that why he was now wandering the region? And what happened to her parents, anyway? What happened to Pachirisu and Blissey?

The sun was shining brightly and several people were already in the lounge when Carrie was awoken from her stupor, oblivious to their existences. Many of them were watching her curiously; to them, she simply looked to be sitting alone in a corner, staring out into space, completely unresponsive.

Hardly aware of what she was doing, Carrie suddenly stood up, backpack barely in her grasp, and walked slowly out of the Pokémon Center, ignoring the gazes and whispers that seemed to flow from every person in the room. Once outside, she took a few steps forward, fell to her knees, and as her tears finally caught up with her, let out an ear-splitting scream.

* * *

She lay in her room that afternoon, still in the same pajamas, exhausted both physically and emotionally. After several failed attempts by strangers to calm her, Sam had emerged from his own room and coaxed her back to hers. He had seen the story himself on a small television in his room. While trying to calm her, Professor Elm had called back, with news that he and his assistant were out at the home this morning, and that Carrie's mother and her Pokémon were staying with him. He had no news of Carrie's father or his Machamp, both of whom were now wanted for questioning.

After that, Carrie had a hard time escaping from Sam and his pressing assurance that he was there for her, and it was with great relief that she finally was allowed to return to her bed, desperate to be alone. Now, however, there was a knock on the door, and Sam entered without waiting for a reply. Carrie had stopped crying by now, but rolled over to hide her face anyway.

"Um… don't worry, I'm not here to nag you, just listen," Sam started, unsure how to bring up the subject. "I didn't know if you still wanted to compete in the Sprout Tower thing tomorrow, but according to the trainers I overheard downstairs, they aren't going to be taking any more applicants after seven. So you only have about twenty minutes to go and sign up if you wanted to…"

Carrie choked out, "'kay," but otherwise didn't react. Sam took a step into the room.

"Listen, your mom and her Pokémon are safe. I know your dad's still missing, but he'll turn up, you'll see. Are you sure you don't want to talk? Because I can listen. Or at least get some food. You haven't eaten a thing since last night."

"No," Carrie responded, her voice trembling. "No, I… I'll go and sign up for that… thing…" She rolled out of bed and walked passed Sam without looking at him.

* * *

She had made it just in time. One official was stacking the applicants' papers, while the other was just about to lock the door when Carrie knocked on it, and he allowed her inside, glaring at her suspiciously; she still hadn't dressed.

"Is it too late to register?" Carrie asked. The two men looked at each other briefly. Then the seated man spoke.

"No, you're, uh, just in time. Here you go," he added, sliding a blank application to Carrie. As she filled it out, he turned to his partner and said, "At least there's an even number now. Pairing them off won't take you more than an hour. We could have the pairings posted at the Pokémon Center by eight, nine tops."

"Thanks," Carrie whispered, sliding the application and her pokédex towards the seated official. He quickly confirmed her license, and added her paper to the top of his stack. Then he pulled out a tiny Bellsprout from his pocket and passed it to Carrie. It was a pin, with a tiny white space at the bottom. She clipped it to her shirt.

"The tournament will be tag-team style. When you find out your partner," he said, "write down their number in that little white spot. You and your partner will be checked before you battle. The rest of the rules will be explained before the event."

"Thank you," Carrie whispered again. She looked between the two men for a moment, then silently turned and left the tower.

* * *

The entire city had apparently been decorated in preparation for the festival tomorrow. All of the lampposts had a colored ribbon attached and several stands had been set up along the main streets, to be filled tomorrow with various food items and souvenir shops. The sky, however, was thick with dark gray clouds.

Though she had only scraps of energy, instead of heading back to the Pokémon Center, Carrie sat watching what remained of the sunset on a bench outside of a shop, rolling Spinarak's pokéball between her fingers. Since she caught the spider, she hadn't had a chance to speak to him at all – or rather, she could have, she was just afraid to let him out again. Still, it had to be done sooner or later. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Carrie decided trying something would be better than sitting here until it started raining. Still unsure of what to say, she dropped the spider's pokéball to the floor, which opened with the usual flash of light that formed into the Spinarak.

As soon as the spider saw Carrie, he made a strange hissing sound and lunged for her leg. Carrie screamed, pulling her legs up onto the bench and standing up on it. Spinarak began to crawl up the side, but as soon as he reached the metal arm, he was converted back into red energy and absorbed back into the pokéball in Carrie's hand.

"Need some help?"

Carrie looked up to see the speaker, who was standing in front of her with a slight smirk: it was a familiar blond haired girl of about Carrie's age, wearing a bright, fiery red tank top and a pair of blue shorts. Carrie jumped down from the bench, her face almost as red as the girl's shirt.

"No."

"You sure?" the girl insisted. "I could have my Pokémon speak to him."

Carrie sighed, staring at the girl, unable to remember where she'd seen her chocolate brown eyes. The girl was slightly taller, but Carrie didn't remember that particular detail.

"I'm Victoria, but call me Tori," the girl said after a few seconds of the awkward silence. She held out her hand, a thin pink ribbon around her wrist.

"Carrie," she said, shaking it.

"So, like, what was with you this morning?" Tori asked. She seemed to regret asking as she spotted the tears in Carrie's eyes, but Carrie responded anyway.

"Long story short, I found out that my house was ruined and my parents were missing."

"Oh my _gawd_, I'm sorry!" Tori gasped, hands covering her mouth. Carrie shrugged.

"Don't be. There's nothing I can do about it, so crying won't help. Besides, mom's fine."

Tori's expression was bizarre, almost confused. Carrie got the impression that the girl considered her a very strange person, but she really didn't care what anyone thought about her right now. Tori changed the subject.

"Are you, like, really sure you don't want help with your Spinarak?"

"Go ahead," Carrie replied, too tired to argue. She passed her the spider's pokéball. Tori took it, as well as one of her own, which she dropped to the ground first. The light took the shape of a slightly larger version of the ladybug from earlier, with longer antennae, bright blue eyes, and one set of its arms had been converted into legs. Seeing the Pokémon reminded Carrie why the girl looked so familiar: she had been in a green dress in the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, feeding the Ledyba that now appeared to have evolved since then.

Tori muttered some rushed instructions to her Ledian before dropping Spinarak's pokéball on the ground next to her. Again the spider emerged, angry as ever. He made to attack Carrie's leg for a third time, but he was stopped once again, this time by Tori's Ledian, who flew down and tackled the spider.

Now ignoring his trainer, Spinarak turned his attention on Ledian. Spinning around, he sunk his fangs into Ledian's foot as another rumble of thunder echoed overhead.

"Get it off you with a Comet Punch!" Tori ordered. Her Ledian obeyed, rapidly punching Spinarak with her tiny arms. The spider, however, refused to remove his fangs. Whimpering now, Ledian began ramming her foot into the dirty pavement.

"Spinarak, get off!" Carrie shouted. Her Pokémon ignored her.

"Supersonic," Tori ordered. Ledian responded by rapidly vibrating her wings to generate a high pitched buzzing. This proved effective enough to finally cause Spinarak to let go, and he fell to the dirt.

"Now tackle it again," Tori ordered.

"Hey!" growled Carrie, her anger flaring; now that Spinarak let go, she felt that continuing the assault was a low blow. "Spinarak, String Shot!"

Ledian flew towards Spinarak, preparing to ram him. Spinarak responded by letting out a flying string from in between his fangs. The string struck Ledian's wing as she tried to avoid it, causing her wing to stick. Unable to move her wing, and therefore unable to stay airborne, Ledian fell to the ground, where the trail of string remaining stuck her to the dirt.

All traces of exhaustion gone (or, at least, temporarily pushed aside), Carrie took the chance to whip out her pokédex and scan Spinarak, and began to check his moves. She realized with slight horror that she had yet to actually record Spinarak's capture. Tori, meanwhile, seemed to have no thoughts about how to free Ledian, however she was still smirking.

"Can you do a move called Night Shade?" Carrie asked. Spinarak responded by firing an eerie purple beam from his eyes, striking Ledian in the face. Tori continued to smirk, refusing to give any command.

"Okay, um… try Constrict," Carrie suggested. Spinarak shot more string at Ledian, this time shooting with more force, aiming to put her out of commission her completely rather than simply hinder her. The string stuck to Ledian's arms and wings, seeming to only stick further the more she tried to scrape it off.

"That's enough, Ledian," Tori said, holding out her hand and sucking her Pokémon back into her pokéball. Spinarak hissed loudly.

"Are you done?" Carrie yelled. "What the hell was that about?"

"That," Tori replied coolly, "was you showing Spinarak that you are worthy to train him. That _is_ why he attacked you, isn't it?"

Both Carrie's and Spinarak's expressions changed to one of shock. They looked at each other, neither one believing what just happened; they had worked together in cooperation, and managed to win a battle; Carrie's first victory to boot. Up in the sky, the loudest rumble of thunder so far threatened them.

* * *

It still hadn't started raining, but the sky was now completely dark and the lamps were all lit as Tori and Carrie walked back to the Pokémon Center, Cyndaquil in Carrie's arms and Spinarak on her head. The spider still wasn't happy with his new trainer, but he reluctantly agreed to cooperate, provided she didn't force him to battle anyone he didn't want to.

Though she was angry at Tori for tricking her into a battle, Carrie's mood had slightly improved as an overall result. As they talked, Carrie realized just how much she was slacking with her Pokémon's training. She had registered Spinarak in her pokédex after the battle, and after comparing his and Cyndaquil's strengths with Tori's Ledian's, she discovered that both of her Pokémon were rather under leveled for this point in her journey.

"Yeah, usually," Tori was saying, "trainers train enough to, like, evolve their starter to their second stage before fighting their first gym battle, and even then they often have trouble."

"Quiiiiil," Cyndaquil piped up in his high, squeaky voice, shaking his head furiously.

"_What_?" Carrie said, astounded. "Are you saying you don't want to evolve? But… I… why not? You'll be so much stronger!"

"You do know that it's considered, like, abuse to force a Pokémon to evolve against its will, right?" Tori asked worriedly. Carrie looked about to protest, but Cyndaquil screeched again and turned his head towards the Sprout Tower.

"Oh, are you in the Sprout Tower Challenge too?" Tori asked, her voice suddenly high with excitement. Carrie shrugged.

"If that's what they're calling that huge tournament thing, yeah."

"Me too! I, like, totally can't wait to find out who my partner is!"

"Oh, they should be posted in the Pokémon Center at about eight."

"Oh my _gawd_! Why are we waiting? Let's go see!" Tori squealed, gripping Carrie's wrist and dragging her at a run.

* * *

"What about you, Carrie?"

A large crowd was gathered around the television in the Pokémon Center's lounge, where the pairings for the Sprout Tower Challenge were posted on the screen. Tori had found her partner quickly and had been chatting with her not far away, but now they both had returned as the crowd began to thin.

"I'm with someone named Kit," Carrie yawned, longing to go up to her bed despite her empty stomach.

"That would be me," came a voice from the edge of the crowd. Carrie turned to her left to see another familiar face: the girl with the dark green hair and black pokégear was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking directly at her. Seeing her face for the first time, Carrie thought she looked rather sinister, a thought supplemented by her dark red eyes. Before Carrie could even open her mouth, Kit spoke again.

"Well, now that I know what you look like, don't be late tomorrow, and don't get in my way, number seven." Then, in a horribly fake, sweeter tone, she added, "Sleep well!" She then waved once and walked off towards the stairs.

"This day just keeps getting better," Carrie whispered angrily. Tori didn't ask what she meant.

* * *

Carrie forced herself to have dinner before allowing herself to return to her room. Having no food all day and a poor sleep the night before, combined with the long, unusual events of the day left Carrie fatigued. She hated the feeling, and hated herself for not doing something about it sooner, considering it had been less than a week ago that she had nearly passed out while leaving home.

Up in the dining room, she sat with Tori and her partner, a girl named Nichole. The pair were busy chatting much too fast for Carrie to keep up with in her current state, and excused herself as soon as she finished eating to sleep.

Rain was pounding hard on her window when she entered her rented bedroom. She could occasionally make out the outline of the Sprout Tower far to the north during a lightning flash, which was almost always followed by a bellowing thunderclap that shook the building.

Carrie dropped both her pokéballs to the carpet, where Cyndaquil and Spinarak emerged. She then dragged herself to the bed, threw a pillow to the floor, and laid herself down, falling asleep within seconds. Cyndaquil and Spinarak climbed onto the pillow and curled up as well.

Less than an hour later, the loudest rumble of thunder yet shook the building, accompanied by multiple flashes of light that caused Carrie to bolt upwards just in time to notice the light on the ceiling go out. The room, however, was not completely dark, but had a slight orange tint. Looking to the floor, Cyndaquil's flame was put out. Carrie scrambled out of bed, careful not to step on her sleeping Pokémon, and looked out the window.

Even through the relentless waterfall of rain, it was impossible to deny that the mass to the north was on fire.


	6. The Bellsprout Festival

**A/N: **Ch. 6 rewrite, engage! (Last rewrite, yay.)

* * *

**Ch. 6 - The Bellsprout Festival**

Without bothering to dress, Carrie bolted to the door and into the hallway, where she stopped short in the dark. Several other pajama-clad people seemed to have been awakened by the thunder as well and were poking their heads out of their rooms or otherwise coming out completely. The last lightning bolt had killed the power to the whole Pokémon Center and the hall was pitch dark, only lit up by the occasional flash from the outside, visible through the many skylights on the roof.

A more localized flash of light off to Carrie's left caused several people to scream, under the impression that lightning had stuck the building, but it proved to be nothing more than a pokéball opening. The resulting Pokémon was what Carrie recognized as a Staryu, a small yellow-orange starfish with a shining red gem at its core. The gem illuminated the corridor enough for Carrie to see the faces of the people up and down most of the hall. Then, looking behind her for the source of a tiny yawn, she noticed that Cyndaquil had been disturbed by the screams, so Carrie beckoned to him and had him light his fire as he waddled to her. Spinarak followed suit, apparently having been wide-awake the whole time, being nocturnal and all.

The two Pokémon led the way through the hall and down the stairs, into the center's main lobby. A few trainers made their way to the doors while others, including Carrie, wandered to a window in the lounge area. The rain outside was coming down harder than ever, and Carrie wondered what the point of going out into the rain would be. Chances were that no one here could put out that fire, if even this rain wasn't able to prevent it from starting.

"What's going on?" came a familiar voice from the stairs. Carrie turned to see Tori stepping down them carefully, her Staryu waiting for her, floating, at the bottom, bathing everything within a few feet in an eerie red glow.

"A fire," Carrie answered. "I think the Sprout Tower was struck by lightning." There was a slight murmuring of confirmation from some of the surrounding trainers.

"But… wouldn't the tower, like, ground the lightning?" Tori said. "It has that strange, teetering beam thing down the center of the whole thing, shouldn't that have, like, channeled it or something?"

Carrie shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't actually seen it. Why are they trying to get out?" she added, nodding her head towards the people gathered trying to pry open the automatic doors. "It's not like they can do anything." Despite that, Carrie had to resist the urge to join them. She didn't like sitting here, helpless.

"Maybe they just want to see?"

"'Could do that from right here. The north row of rooms has a clear shot of the Tower from the windows, that's how I saw it." Then, betraying her true feelings, she added, "Personally, I think we should all go back to bed. There's nothing we can do."

Tori looked afraid. "But, like, what if the fire spreads and burns us in our sleep?"

For this, Carrie had no answer, so she just shrugged. She didn't think it was likely but the image did terrify her nevertheless, though she would never have openly admitted it.

Unable to open the automatic doors, the trainers there abandoned the attempt and joined those in the lounge. A few returned to their rooms, but many of them were also afraid that the fire could spread. Sam had tumbled down the stairs a short while later and joined them, while Cyndaquil had curled up next to Staryu on a table in the center of the lounge with his fire alight. Carrie had lost track of Spinarak, but she felt confident he wouldn't get into any trouble. The chatter was oddly minimal, despite the fact that just about everyone who remained downstairs had been snapped awake by the storm.

"What do you think they'll do about the tournament?" Tori asked the crowd at large in attempt to make conversation.

"I reckon they'll have to cancel it," said one shirtless boy in the corner, his hand picking at his messy red-tinted hair. "Even if the fire goes out an' the tower stays standing, they ain't gonna let us hold battles up there no more."

"I expect they'll cancel the whole festival," added the boy next to him, who looked deeply depressed by the thought.

"Why would they do that?" Sam asked. "I mean, the tower might be off-limits now, but why should that affect the rest of the festival? Or the tournament, for that matter," he added, almost as an afterthought. "I mean, of course we won't be in the tower, but we can still battle out in a park or in the gym or something. It wouldn't change the format, would it?"

"They better not cancel that damn tournament," came Kit's voice. She was far across the room, filing her nails while sitting on the main counter that the nurse usually occupied, but her strong voice carried in the silence. Several eyes looked in her direction, but before anyone spoke, a buzzing sound emanated from her pocket. Looking even more irritated in the faint light, she slid off the counter and began to walk towards the back healing room as she drew out her pokégear.

"I'll be right back," Carrie whispered to Tori and Sam, and quietly followed Kit. She had slipped into a room in the back and closed the door behind her. No doubt opening it would alert her to Carrie's presence, so instead, she pressed her ear tightly to the door.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday or whenever that I wouldn't do anything?" Kit was saying in angry whispers, talking into her pokégear's phone. "How the hell did you know, anyway? It only happened, what, fifteen minutes ago? Got someone tailing me or something? … Andrew is an idiot. I already told you I wasn't going to act without the team. The tower itself wasn't even the target! … You wouldn't dare demote me, Boggard! It would be the last thing you'd ever do, and you know it. … _No it damn well was not me_!"

Carrie staggered back, startled as Kit apparently knocked something over inside the room. She backed into a tray and knocked several surgical tools into the floor. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, but the girl inside could not possibly have missed the sound. She whispered something quickly into her phone that Carrie couldn't hear.

"You ok?" came a call from the lobby as, sure enough, Kit opened the door, glaring at Carrie murderously.

"Yeah, everything's fine back here!" Kit called back calmly as Sam appeared from around the corner. "We're fine, see? Just knocked some stuff over. The light doesn't really reach over here. We'll be back soon." Sam shrugged and turned back to the lobby. As soon as he was out of sight, Kit grabbed Carrie by the arm and pulled her back into the room.

Kit lit a match, illuminating the darkness. Looking around, Carrie gathered that the room she was in was not a Pokémon healing room, but rather a storage room for various medical supplies. She didn't have long to take in the details, though, before Kit rounded on her.

"What the _hell_ were you doing?" she demanded, holding the match up to Carrie's shirt. "Answer me truthfully or the match drops."

"You wouldn't, not with all those people right outside," Carrie replied.

"Accidents happen. Now answer me."

Carrie's heart started beating fast inside her. She raked her brain for a possible, logical excuse, but nothing came to her. All she could focus on was the fire hovering just above her.

"Well?" Kit spat. "You knew I got a call. Why were you listening in on me?"

Carrie hesitated, staring at the match for another few seconds. She doubted Kit would drop it intentionally, whether she cooperated or not. At this point, however, she decided the truth was safer than lying poorly and getting caught – never mind the fact that she still failed to think of any other excuses. "I overheard you talking the other day, when I threw out my trash upstairs," Carrie confessed. Kit's eyes widened in horror for a moment, but her expression returned to one of rage so quickly that Carrie wasn't sure she'd actually seen it change.

"What did you hear? _What did you hear_?"

"I don't… something about having a bigger job, I think, and then you said that you wouldn't do something alone, and that… that you would report after the tournament. What did you mean, 'it was not me'?"

"I'm the one asking the questions," Kit snapped. She began pacing, though the tiny, cramped room offered little space to do so. When she next spoke, it seemed to be more to herself than to Carrie. "Damn it… what to do… I can't just let her go, now, can I… though… she didn't hear anything significant…"

A call of "Carrie?" echoed from beyond the door. Kit looked up quickly, then grabbed Carrie by the shirt and pulled her to the door, blowing out her match and muttering to Carrie quietly but fiercely as she opened the door:

"You best forget anything you heard, and I'll overlook this, one time only."

Sam had just come into view again as the two girls emerged, and he had not seen Carrie being forced out. Kit looked completely calm, as though nothing but pleasant conversation had been happening this whole time.

"We were just looking for a circuit breaker or flashlights or something," she told Sam, anticipating his question. She clapped Carrie on the back before glancing at her maliciously and then proceeded to walk away, lighting another match as she retreated upstairs.

"So… I guess you didn't find any flashlights, then?" Sam asked. It took most of Carrie's willpower to refrain from slapping him.

"Tell me you're joking. You _can't_ be that dense," she said harshly, her voice confident. "Let's go back to the lounge, Tori needs to hear this.

Sam just blinked as Carrie walked passed him, but followed her lead. Once back in her seat, Carrie explained how she had been pulled into the closet.

"She's up to something," Carrie was saying. "I overheard her talking the other day in the cafeteria, it didn't sound good. And just now, I think someone was blaming her for what happened to the Sprout Tower. She had said, 'I told you I wasn't going to act without the team' or something. But I slipped and knocked over those tools and obviously she heard me and threatened me with a lit match and warned me to keep quiet. But I've lived with constant threats all my life; she's nothing to worry about."

Several seconds of silence followed as the gathered trainers thought over what they'd heard. A few of them rolled their eyes and lay back in their chairs, doubting Carrie's tale. Then Sam spoke up:

"You don't think she's a part of Team Rocket, do you?"

Tori let out a shrill laugh. "Team Rocket's been disbanded, like, twice. I really don't think even they're stupid enough to try regrouping again. Everyone knows Giovanni, or whatever his name is, vanished. Some people say he, like, killed himself. And those four executives from a few years back? Yeah, no one's seem them, either."

"You mean those people who took over the radio tower in Goldenrod?" Carrie asked, vaguely remembering hearing about the incident.

"Yeah," said the shirtless boy. "I reckon them exec's are still 'round, and the boss man, too. Who says the Rockets wouldn't try another comeback? They ain't known for their smarts, after all, ay?" Several trainers snickered in amusement.

"And even if she isn't a Rocket," piped in the shirtless boy's friend, "who's to say there isn't some new crazy team runnin' 'round? Think of how many damn evil teams have been sighted so far. You got Magma and Aqua competin' for control of Hoenn, those loonies in Galactic runnin' Sinnoh, and them folk called Cipher way over in Orre, jus' to name a few. Wouldn't surprise me if a new one sprouted."

"Aren't they all kind of… local?" Carrie asked. "None of them have really strayed outside of the region they started in."

"The Rockets have," Sam whispered.

"Puh-_lease_," Tori whined. "The Rockets are finished-"

"But where's the proof?" Sam cut her off. "Just because no one's seen them doesn't mean they aren't acting in the shadows! That's how they came back the second time!"

"Stop it!" Tori cried loudly as she stood up, her hands in fists at her sides. Her entire body was visibly shaking. "Just stop it! They c-can't come back!" A quick sniffle suggested she was on the verge of crying as well. She had probably had problems with the Rockets in her past; Sam probably scared her with thoughts of their return.

"Good job," she said sarcastically to him.

"What? I just-ow!" Sam spat as Carrie smacked him in the back of the head.

"I think we should all just go to bed. I think the storm is letting up," came a tiny, almost scared-sounding voice. The speaker, a small, short girl with short red hair who Carrie recognized as Tori's tournament partner, Nichole, stood up and put her hand on Tori's shoulder and began to lead the taller girl to the stairs. Tori's Staryu, silent since being released, continued its noiseless endeavor as it gently lifted itself from the table and drifted after its trainer, leaving the sleeping Cyndaquil as the only light source for the remaining trainers.

"Anyone else going to their room?" Carrie asked once Staryu's light was no longer visible. Several people murmured no. Carrie wordlessly stood, picked up Cyndaquil, and marched back to her own room, desperate for sleep.

* * *

The fire had been put out by the time Carrie finally awoke the next morning. Looking out her window, Carrie saw the remains of the Sprout Tower, barely visible now over the trees in the horizon. It appeared that the fire at least had not been able to spread very far. Down below, the streets were filled with people and colored stands as the festival continued. She sighed. She glanced at the small alarm clock on the night table, which was blank; the power had not been restored yet. Returning Cyndaquil and Spinarak back to their pokéballs (Spinarak having returned some time after Carrie fell asleep), Carrie gathered her usual outfit, caring little that she could not wash them, and headed to the showers.

After her cleaning, she headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. There was only one girl in the room, and very few food options, most likely due to the stands outside carrying various foods. She took to her table two leftover burgers and a water bottle, releasing her Pokémon upon arrival, and passed them one of the burgers while she began on her own. Spinarak refused to touch it, however, and she promised to get him something more favorable once outside.

After finishing and tossing her trash, the other girl walked up to her. She wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of extremely short shorts. Her shockingly bright pink hair fell down in waves over her back.

"Late start?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"I'm surprised to see anyone else in here. It's after noon already, all the good food is being served on the streets."

"Oh," Carrie replied, picking up her backpack and water bottle. "I didn't sleep well last night, that's all."

"Ah. Neither did I. Disturbed by the storm?"

"Yeah," Carrie shrugged, now recalling her Pokémon. "Do you know what they're doing with the tournament?"

"No," the girl answered. "I heard people saying they posted a notice downstairs, though. Are you going to the festival?"

"Might as well," Carrie said, starting to walk away, figuring she'd gathered all the useful information she was going to get. The pink-haired girl followed.

"Me too. I only came inside for food because it's so hot out today. I needed to get some cool air. Turns out the power is still out so it's not much better in here. I'm Lexie, by the way."

"Carrie." As they descended the stairs, the nurse at the counter smiled at them before returning to her paperwork. The two girls walked towards the doors, which someone had managed to force open, though they were now unable to close. The heat washed over them from outside as they approached the note tacked to the board by the door.

"Cool, they're still accepting battlers," Carrie exclaimed as she read it. "Still have two hours though, if it's only noon. Where's this trainer's school?"

"No idea," Lexie replied. She turned to the nurse and called to her. "Excuse me! Where's the trainer's school?"

"Just a few blocks north of here," the nurse called back, still smiling. By the time Lexie turned back around, Carrie had already stepped out the door. Lexie frowned and followed her.

Finding the school didn't take long. Carrie, having never been to a school before, was amazed as she counted the thirty-five single-person desks lined neatly in rows, each with a folding chair facing the north wall of the room, where a larger desk stood. Only a handful of people were inside, including the officials from the tower, now sitting in front of the desk at the head of the room. Carrie and Lexie walked over to them.

"Uh, I'm here for the tournament," Carrie said.

"Name and partner?" asked one man.

"I'm Carrie. Her name is Kit," she responded, pointing at the Bellsprout pin still stuck to her shirt. The second man picked up a clipboard and scanned the list of names scribbled on it.

"Yeah, she was here. You're the same girl who came in as we were closing, aren't you?" She replied with a nod. The man scratched her name into the list. "Right. Be here in… an hour and twenty minutes."

* * *

Carrie and Lexie parted ways shortly after, once Lexie spotted her boyfriend about to partake in some sort of eating contest against a Lickitung. Carrie let out both of her own Pokémon as she headed down the city's main road. Cyndaquil seemed to enjoy the warm weather, but Spinarak was less grateful for the humidity and the light. Carrie got him some cotton candy from a stand; after eating, he opted to return to his pokéball.

Along with the many souvenir stalls that lined nearly every street, several competitions were being held in most of the shaded park areas, both for people and Pokémon. Carrie watched a few rounds of a race, and allowed Cyndaquil to play a game of tag with some other Pokémon. She stumbled upon the starting booth for a citywide game of hide and seek, however the previous game was still in progress so she chose not to sign up in case it overlapped with the tournament. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that there was a lack of anything Bellsprout-related, which struck her as odd considering the festival is in the Pokémon's honor. She eventually found herself sitting on a park bench under a shady tree, holding her nearly empty water bottle tightly.

Her eyes closed as she laid her head back and relished the shade while Cyndaquil was busy mingling with some other Pokémon nearby. A sudden shout from overhead forced her eyes open in time to see a purple and green mass crash down on the bench next to her. The mass turned out to be two separate Pokémon, one a purple and beige money and the other a small, green caterpillar; a Caterpie, common in the forest near Carrie's home.

As both Pokémon righted themselves, Carrie pulled her pink pokédex from her belt and aimed it at the purple monkey, which was identified as a male Aipom. The golden Mew engraved into the pokédex's outer casing reflected light into the Aipom's eyes, catching his attention. The distraction allowed the Caterpie to tackle the tiny monkey, throwing him off the edge of the bench. The Aipom quickly climbed back up and attempted to swat the Caterpie with his tail, which was shaped like a hand and curled into a fist, but the green caterpillar shot a thin string from its tiny mouth, nailing the monkey in the face and again causing him to tumble off the bench. He angrily climbed back up, but instead of returning to the fight, he continued up the tree from where he had fallen. The Caterpie then turned to Carrie, glared at her for a moment, then began to glow white.

The tiny caterpillar more than doubled in size and changed shape. After a few seconds, the light faded, leaving a green cocoon on the bench. Intrigued by the evolution, Carrie pointed her pokédex at the Metapod, which identified it as female. The two simply stared at each other for a few minutes, before the Metapod eventually toppled over, eyes closed. Carrie reached to put away her pokédex, and on a whim, instead pulled a pokéball from her backpack and rolled it at the cocoon. She was sucked inside in the usual flash of red light. The pokéball didn't even shake afterwards, simply closing, falling, and coming to rest with a ping. Carrie felt a strange mix of excitement and disappointment as she picked up her new catch and scanned the ball with her pokédex to record the capture.

* * *

She and Cyndaquil made a short stop to the Pokémon Center to get Metapod checked out (Carrie picked up a fresh water bottle on the way out) then headed over to the trainer's school to await the start of the tournament. Several people were now there waiting, though it hardly looked like the number of people listed on the original pairings. Carrie spotted Kit leaning against a wall near the officials, impatiently filing her nails again. Tori and Nichole sat on the opposite side of the room, chatting quite fast. Carrie joined them briefly, until the two festival organizers stood up and called for the trainers' attention.

"As you know, the Sprout Tower was unavailable for this tournament, due to the fire that had been ignited there late last night. For those who don't know, the tower elder was killed in that fire." A few people gasped at the news, while the official continued speaking. "We decided to keep the tournament in place for anyone wishing to participate, the idea being that it was one of the festival's main attractions. By the looks of this crowd, though, most of the participants have dropped out, or were just unaware that it had been moved. Whatever the case, as you know, the start was delayed. Now it is time to begin, and fortunately, there are exactly eight trainers still here to compete.

"The tournament will follow the same rules set when you signed up; battles will be in teams, until the final battle. Since the elder is, regrettably, unable to grace the winning team with a battle, the final round will consist of the members of the winning team battling each other. Now, those of you whose teammate dropped out and require a new one, come up here for your pairings, and then we shall proceed to the school's battlefield out back to begin."

Kit had already retreated to the wall where the exit to the battlefield was, and Carrie, Tori and Nichole stood up to head outside while the remaining four trainers all walked up to the desk, pairing up being apparently too difficult to do between them.

A fence ringed a small section of dirt outside, encompassing the battlefield and the stands. The battlefield itself was a standard arena, with a small section of stands off to the right where classes would sit to observe lecture battles or some other educational display. Today, the stands were open to the public, and several people were there to watch the tournament, while others simply stood on the outside of the fence, watching over it. A small section of the stands had been roped off, and that is where the eight trainers were ushered to while awaiting their battles. Carrie only had a second to wonder where Sam was before a third official that she didn't recognize stood in the center of the arena with a microphone, clearing his throat into it.

"Welcome, one and all, to the second annual, er… Sprout Tower Tournament! The rules are simple. Trainers will work in pairs to defeat their opponents. Each trainer will use one Pokémon each, and are not restricted to the same Pokémon for each new battle, however healing in between fights is strictly prohibited. In the final battle, the winning team will face off against each other for the prize! What is this prize, you ask? Well… er… you'll just have to wait and see! Now, let's get things under way! Our first battle will be as follows: team number two, Kit and Carrie! Aaaaand their opponents will be… team number three! Aaron and Vinny! Trainers, please make your way to the arena."

Carrie nervously stood up and followed Kit down to one side of the field while the small crowd clapped and cheered. The two boys, Aaron and Vinny, appeared to be twins. Both had short red hair, and even wore the same matching yellow shirts; Carrie couldn't imagine why they hadn't been partners to begin with. They looked as though they were just beginning their journey as well, a thought only complimented by their Pokémon choices; one boy released a Sentret, the other, a Rattata. Carrie wondered why they didn't wait till she and Kit picked their Pokémon to release their choices; perhaps they were confident, or perhaps they were just naïve. Kit's choice was a Venonat, a tiny purple bug with large red eyes. Deciding that the battle would probably be an easy one, Carrie tossed her new Metapod's pokéball to the field.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Kit cried in frustration as Metapod appeared. Several people in the audience mirrored her confusion; the cheering died down to whispers and people turned to whisper to the person next to them or tilted their heads with a frown.

The referee, who also turned out to be the announcer, waved a green flag. Almost immediately, Aaron and Vinny called out their attacks in unison: "Quick Attack!"

"Metapod, Harden!" Carrie called, sure that both attacks were coming her way.

"Venonat, Psybeam!" Kit ordered as Sentret and Rattata sped for her Pokémon.

The two normal-types rammed hard into Venonat, causing the bug to stumble backwards under the pressure of the double attack. Once she regained her footing, Venonat responded with a multicolored beam from her eyes. The attack struck both Pokémon due to their closeness, and both let out a howl of pain.

"Tackle," Kit said in a bored tone.

"Metapod, you tackle the other one!" Carrie added.

The twins looked at each other for a moment, then ordered another double Quick Attack, this time against Metapod. Venonat lunged, just missing Sentret as he and Rattata sped towards Metapod. The cocoon let out a strange hiss before lunging at her attackers. She collided with the Rattata, but the Sentret's attack threw her back again. While his partner was recovering, Sentret leapt for Metapod a second time, lashing out with his tiny paws and scratching Metapod's shell repeatedly. Rattata attempted to join in, fangs bared, but Kit's Venonat froze it in place with the blue glow of a Confusion attack.

"Metapod, Harden!" Carrie cried desperately, though her Pokémon was already carrying out the defensive move out of instinct.

Kit's Venonat hurled the Rattata across the field where it lay unconscious. The referee waved a red flag, and one of the boys held up a pokéball to recall the purple rat. Without an order, Venonat cloaked Sentret in the same blue glow, tossing him away from Metapod. She then charged at the small Pokémon, still holding him in place, and delivered a full-body tackle. The Sentret sprawled out on the ground, motionless.

"That's it, the winners are Venonat and Metapod!" the referee announced while waving his red flag over Sentret. The audience clapped hesitantly, apparently still confused. "Team number two proceeds to the next round! Now, who will their opponents be? Team number one, Ashley and Sid? Or team number four, Victoria and Nichole?"

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" Kit whispered furiously as she and Carrie made their way back to their seats in the stands. "Using a Metapod in a trainer battle? Honestly, do you have _any_ brains? You're just lucky that our opponents were rookies and made almost as bad a mistake-"

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" Carrie shot back. "They looked weak, I wanted Metapod to get some experience."

"So then you train it against a wild Pokémon or something, you don't throw it in a trainer battle! A tournament battle, especially! You could have cost me that match!"

"I didn't, did I?" She sped up to get away from Kit and walked ahead of her. She whispered "good luck" to Tori and Nichole as they passed. As soon as she sat down, Kit caught up and continued arguing.

"Don't you use that Metapod again. If I lose this tournament because of you, may Arceus have mercy on you, because I won't."

"Fine, I won't, now shut up so I can watch this fight."

Kit looked about to respond, but decided against it and turned her attention to the battle. Tori had sent out a small, green, reptilian-like Pokémon that Carrie didn't recognize, and Nichole had out a Beedrill. Their opponents, Ashley and Sid, had sent out a Bellsprout and a Geodude, respectively. Carrie pointed her pokédex at Tori's battler, identifying it as a female Treecko.

The battle didn't last very long. Treecko attempted to slam Bellsprout with her tail, but the thin Pokémon bended and slipped away from each swipe. Meanwhile, Beedrill attempted to jab Geodude, who kept it at bay by flinging rock pieces from its own body. While distracted, Treecko managed to catch Geodude off guard with an Absorb attack, completely draining the rock-type's energy and carrying it back to the attacker in a green aura. With Geodude out of the way, the Treecko and Beedrill turned on Bellsprout. Though evasive, Bellsprout proved unable to dodge two attackers at once, and once a blow hit, the tiny grass-type lost its concentration and was brought down by several consecutive hits.

"And now, the next round! Kit and Carrie face off against Victoria and Nichole! Whenever you're ready, trainers!"

This time, no one released any Pokémon until all four girls had one ready; then they threw the pokéballs at the same time. Tori, suspecting Carrie would use her fire-type, released her Staryu; Nichole's choice was a small, red Hoppip; Kit's Pokémon was a large Fearow (seeing it sparked Carrie's brain to wonder why there were no level requirements in the tournament); Carrie's own choice was Spinarak.

The referee waved a green flag, and Kit's Fearow immediately dove for Nichole's Hoppip without a command. The Hoppip shrieked, ignoring Nichole's tackle command to cover her eyes with the leaves on her head instead. Tori ordered Staryu to step in and slow Fearow with a Water Gun attack. Her Pokémon obeyed, but the stream of water was much too weak for Kit's higher leveled bird to be hindered too badly. The Fearow's large beak jabbed at the cowering Hoppip, catching one of her leaves and carrying her into the air.

"Spinarak, use String Shot!" Carrie ordered. Spinarak looked back at her for a moment, then shot a thin string at Fearow, which tangled in the bird's wings, slowing his flight.

"What the _hell_ are you doing? Seriously!" Kit shouted at Carrie. She then turned to her Fearow and ordered, "Do a Faint Attack!"

Fearow suddenly took on a black aura for a fraction of a second before disappearing completely, both the string and Hoppip falling to the earth. Before either one landed, though, Fearow reappeared in another black aura and rammed hard into the Hoppip.

"Star, try another Water Gun!" Tori shouted. Again, Staryu launched another stream of water at Fearow, but this time the bird dodged it completely, flew in a circle, and dove at Staryu, striking it with a wing before pulling up again.

"Peck the Staryu, now!" Kit ordered.

"Star, wait until it hits you, then Recover!"

"Spinarak, don't let Staryu heal itself!" Carrie cried, whipping out her pokédex. As Fearow dived, she said, "Can you do a Constrict attack?"

Spinarak responded by charging at Staryu. Fearow struck Staryu's core with his beak before flying up again. While it staggered, Spinarak clung to the star, gripping it with all of his legs, and carefully wrapping a string around it.

"Try to tackle the Fearow again," Nichole ordered. Her tiny Hoppip regained her balance and flung herself towards Fearow. The bird simply beat Hoppip with a wing, flinging it back to crash into Spinarak and Staryu.

"Finish them," was Kit's only order. Fearow dove down a third time, both wings spread wide, and slashed at all three other Pokémon. They all were thrown hard into the ground. Fearow returned to the air, but none of the other three made any move. The referee waved his red flag over the three of them and declared them all knocked out.

Carrie ran across the field to Spinarak, while Tori and Nichole did the same for their Pokémon. All three were returned to their pokéballs safely after checking to make sure there were no severe injuries.

"It takes all the fun out of it when she uses those, like, really high leveled Pokémon, doesn't it?" Tori commented angrily, patting Carrie on the shoulder.

"Good luck," Nichole added. "You'll need it."

As the losing pair returned to their seats and Carrie took their spot on the field, the announcer-slash-referee picked up his microphone again. "It's time for the final battle, everyone! The trainers of team number two, Kit versus Carrie! Who will win the prize? We're about to find out! Trainers, on your marks!"

Carrie stared intensely at Kit as she removed Cyndaquil's pokéball from her belt; Kit already had her choice in her hand. The referee waved his flags and both pokéballs flew onto the field. Cyndaquil appeared on Carrie's side, ready to go. Kit's pokéball revealed a massive purple pile of goo. Carrie reached down to her belt for her pokédex again as the ref waved his flags.

"Muk, Sludge Bomb," Kit called, sounding bored.

"Cyndaquil, hide in a Smokescreen!" Carrie shouted.

Cyndaquil, slightly faster than the semisolid Muk, began leaking thick smoke from his back. Meanwhile, Muk lobbed a ball of ooze from his body right into the cloud of smoke. The ball exploded loudly, flinging smaller chunks of the poisonous goo all around the field. Cyndaquil was thrown out of his smoke cloud as well and landed harshly on the dirt.

"Shadow Sneak," Kit ordered. Muk's shadow responded, slithering away from its master, across the arena, and lunging up, quite solid, into Cyndaquil. He flew into the air a few meters before crashing to earth again, unmoving.


	7. Crash and Burn

**Ch. 7 - Crash and Burn**

"And that's it, Cyndaquil is down!"

"Wait!" Carrie shouted, holding a hand up at the referee. "Come on, Cyndaquil, get up! Are you gonna just let it throw you around?"

Cyndaquil twitched in response and began to force himself back onto his feet, even to Carrie's astonishment. The moment was short-lived however, as Cyndaquil's tiny legs gave out and he collapsed again into the dirt with a small whimper.

"As I was saying. The victor is Muk, and the winner of this match and the tournament is Kit!"

Kit smirked as she recalled her Muk to its pokéball. Carrie took some comfort in the crowd's halfhearted applause; at least she wasn't the only one to think she got cheated.

"Well, good try, Cyndaquil," she said, recalling her own Pokémon to safety.

The announcer called Kit to the small podium where he presented her prize.

"In addition to the monetary winnings, Kit will also receive this special Pokémon-" he held a pokéball up to the crowd; rather than the normal red and white pokéballs, this one was pure white with a red stripe down the middle "-a Bellsprout, raised with the expert care of the Elder himself!"

The referee handed the Premier Ball to Kit, who took it and bowed in thanks, before turning to leave the schoolyard as the announcer finished his speech: "That concludes this year's Sprout Tower tournament! We, er, hope to see you back next year, where we guarantee the tournament will be bigger and better! Please enjoy the remainder of the festival and your time in Violet City!"

* * *

"That was so cheap," Carrie whined.

She, Tori and Nichole left the schoolyard and walked together to a shaded park bench, discussing the tournament along the way.

"I mean, really! How was Cyndaquil supposed to win against that? Did they even plan this out _at all_? That Bellsprout should have been mine! If only they didn't-"

"Carrie, chill out!" Tori interrupted. "I know it was unfair, but, don't you think you're, like… overreacting a little?"

"Overreacting? They had no plan for this tournament at all! They-"

"Carrie, stop," Tori said sternly, barely keeping her own anger in check. "Stop yelling at us. We know how you feel, or did you forget that she, like, _totally_ wiped us both out right before you? It was unfair, we know, but taking it out on us isn't going to change anything. I'm going to go get my Pokémon checked out." She stood up, and quietly added: "And after that beating, I would suggest the same for your Pokémon."

Tori turned and started walking away. Carrie shot an angry glance at Nichole on the bench next to her. The girl had been picking at her own fingernails, afraid to get involved in the shouting match going on next to her. She looked up upon noticing the silence to see Tori stomping away, and then timidly turned to Carrie. She squeaked a little in surprise at her fierce glance, and sprung into a standing position.

"I, uh, need to heal my Pokémon too, so I-I'll just-" she choked out hurriedly before turning and sprinting down the path that Tori had taken.

Carrie sat alone in the shade, staring at her shoes, breathing steadily to calm herself. Only now that Tori and Nichole left her did she start to regret her attitude. She was unsure of how long she sat there before the bench creaked with the weight of someone sitting down next to her.

"Hey," came Sam's voice. "How did the tournament go?"

"Where were you?" Carrie asked.

"You sound upset, did something happen?"

"I asked you a question," Carrie shot back, ignoring her hypocrisy. "I thought you were going to watch."

"Well, I, uh… I was," Sam replied. Carrie looked up at him; he wasn't looking at her, but rather down at the pavement, blushing.

"See, there was this game of hide-and-seek around town, right? Well, I thought it would be fun, so, I signed up. I thought I had a pretty good hiding spot, because even Abra couldn't find me. But after a while, you know, I wondered how I'd know when the game was over… so I left my spot and went back to the game's starting point… turns out no one was even looking for me. Funny, huh?"

Somewhere inside, Carrie felt the urge to laugh, doubting very much that it was an accident that no one had been looking for him. She ignored the urge, just this once.

"So yeah, that's why I missed the battles… so, um, how did it go?" Sam asked again.

"I'll tell you on the way," Carrie sighed as she stood up. "I need to get Cyndaquil healed."

* * *

Morning came far too quickly. Carrie reluctantly forced herself out of bed and dragged her feet all the way to the shower, her only motivation being that the gym would finally be reopened today.

Her mood improved somewhat afterwards, and she even was smiling a bit as she walked downstairs to the Pokémon Center's café. With a quick glance around the room, she spotted Sam sitting alone at a table, attempting to feed his Zubat what looked like oatmeal. Just as Carrie considered getting her own table, Sam caught her gaze and happily stood up, waving like a madman. Carrie sighed, and walked over. So much for her good mood.

"Good morning," Sam said gleefully.

"Hi," Carrie responded. "Please tell me they have actual food up there… Do Zubat even eat that slop?"

"You know, I don't really know…"

Carrie signed again and mumbled vaguely about getting breakfast before there was nothing left. By the time she returned, relishing a simple piece of toast with eggs, Sam had returned his attention to Zubat, who was now attempting to bite his neck.

"Cut it out!" he whined as he covered his head with his arms. Zubat only shrieked with laughter.

"I'm going to the gym," Carrie said, ignoring the ridiculous scene playing out in front of her.

"Oh! I'll go too! I mean, you can battle first, of course! Ladies first, right?"

Carrie raised an eyebrow. "Right…"

* * *

A half hour later, and the pair were standing outside the huge tower that was Violet City's gym. Much to their surprise, Tori and Nichole were there, apparently waiting for them.

"We wanted to wish you luck before I left," Nichole said shyly.

"Haha, thanks girls!" Sam answered. "It means a lot to know I have fans who-"

"I-I was talking to…" Nichole whispered, glancing at Carrie and blushing horribly.

"Er… well, thanks," Carrie said awkwardly. She blushed a little herself, feeling incredibly stupid about her outburst in the park. She figured she should apologize. "Listen, about yesterday in the park-"

"It's totally cool," Tori cut her off. "Everyone has bad days, and I, like, totally would have felt the same way if I were you, after that battle!"

"Actually," Sam said, "That was Carrie on a good day…"

Carrie elbowed him in the stomach.

"Let's get this over with."

* * *

Less than ten minutes later, Carrie stood across the battlefield from the gym leader, while Sam, Tori and Nichole were seated in the stands, waiting for the action to begin.

"Welcome to the gym," the leader spoke. He was a rather young-looking male, perhaps in his twenties, with pale blue hair and a rather odd outfit. "My name is Falkner – do not mispronounce it – and I specialize in Flying Pokémon, specifically ones that I inherited from my father. If I'm not mistaken, you are Carrie, aren't you?"

"Er… yes, I am," Carrie answered, her voice shaking as she tried to cover up her nervousness. "How did you know that?"

"Believe it or not, I was watching the tournament yesterday very closely. If I may say so, as with most beginning trainers, your battling style could use a bit of work, however you have potential."

He paused, and Carrie began to sweat as she realized he was waiting for her to respond. What was she supposed to say to that? In any other moment, she probably would have taken it for an insult, but right now she was both too excited and too nervous to be angry. Then, remembering Falkner was waiting for an answer, she took a deep breath to compose herself. Unable to think of a response, she simply nodded her head once.

"Relax," Falkner said. "There's no need to be nervous. This is just a battle like any other. Are you ready?" Again, Carrie could only nod, afraid that if she opened her mouth, all the Butterfree in her stomach would spew out.

Charming.

"So you know, these are the rules of the gym. We both will use two Pokémon. Whoever defeats both of the opponents Pokémon is the winner. I am not allowed to switch my Pokémon mid-battle, but as the challenger, you have that right. Finally, as the gym leader, I must choose first." Another nod. "So, that's that, and I think we're ready. Go, Hoothoot!" Falkner tossed his pokéball onto the battlefield. It opened in a flash of white light, revealing a tiny, round, brown owl. It blinked its red eyes once, looking as if it had just been trying to sleep, then hooted as it hopped onto one foot.

"Well… not much choice," Carrie said. "Let's win this, Cyndaquil!" She tossed his pokéball and the tiny fire-type popped out, looking unusually determined.

"The first move is yours," Falkner called.

"Right… Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!" Carrie glanced at Hoothoot, as Cyndaquil wasted no time in carrying out the move. She hoped that, with the owl's tiny wings, it wouldn't be able to blow away the smoke. Both Falkner and his Hoothoot, however, looked unfazed.

"Hoothoot, Foresight!" Falkner countered.

Hoothoot hooted happily as it emitted an eerie red beam from its eyes. Carrie hissed silently as she looked on, trying to work out what was happening. Cyndaquil didn't sound like he was in pain… so what was that move doing?

Then she noticed Cyndaquil's silhouette glowing a deep red from within the thick smoke, and gasped.

"Wing Attack, Hoothoot!"

The tiny own hooted again before hopping into the air, flapping its tiny wings hard just to stay airborne, and darted into the smoke. A cry echoed through the building and Cyndaquil came flying out of the cloud, Hoothoot right behind him.

"Now, Hoothoot, Hypnosis!"

"Make another Smokescreen!" Carrie countered, knowing Cyndaquil had no time to return to the first one.

Luckily for Carrie, while Hoothoot was faster, its target was also further away, allowing Cyndaquil to easily create a second ball of smoke. Hoothoot's hypnotic waves entered the gray, and were lost.

"Hoothoot, Foresight into Wing Attack!" Falkner ordered.

Hoothoot obeyed. As soon as Cyndaquil was illuminated, Carrie made her move.

"Cyndaquil, turn around and fire Ember straight ahead!"

Carrie watched as Cyndaquil's form changed position, and after a brief cry, dozens of tiny fireballs erupted from the cloud – straight into the oncoming Hoothoot. The owl hooted in pain as it recoiled away and retreated further into the air.

"There's that potential I was talking about," Falkner commented. "Very clever, I underestimated you and you took complete advantage of that. As a gym leader, I should never have fallen for that."

Carrie grinned briefly before calling for another order or fireballs.

"Hoothoot, Mirror Move!"

Just as another barrage of fireballs shot from the Smokescreen, Hoothoot closed its eyes and, astonishingly, let loose its own fireball stream from its beak. Cyndaquil's aim was completely off, having not been told where to aim, but Hoothoot's Ember was dead-on, due to Cyndaquil glowing in the Foresight.

"Carrie, Cyndaquil's lit up like a Christmas tree!" Sam called from the stands. "You can't hide in Smokescreen, all it's doing is killing Cyndaquil's aim!"

"I know that!" Carrie shot back, which was true, though she had honestly only realized that seconds before.

"Hoothoot, Whirlwind!" Falkner called.

His tiny owl, still somehow keeping itself in the air, beat its wings harder, blasting the entire field with wind. The Smokescreen quickly dispersed, and Cyndaquil lay clutching the ground desperately.

"Ember!" Carrie called, having no other way to reach Hoothoot.

"Confusion!" Falkner retaliated.

Cyndaquil launched yet another string of fireballs, this time with much better accuracy. Hoothoot, however, was having none of that; its eyes changed to an eerie bright blue, which then blasted through the arena. Cyndaquil's embers flickered and faded in midair, and Cyndaquil himself was in visible pain from the blue light.

"Return!" Carrie cried, and recalled Cyndaquil to his pokéball. She reached down to her belt to replace it, but right before she grabbed another one, she hesitated… who could she possibly use now? Spinarak wouldn't likely listen to her, but Metapod was a sitting duck. And both of them were weak to flying attacks. Her gut told her to go with Spinarak as the logical choice, but her arm tossed out Metapod's pokéball instead before she could react further.

"Come on, Metapod! We'll show Kit that you aren't useless!" Carrie called, trying to portray a confidence she didn't feel.

If Falkner was surprised by his newest opponent, he didn't show it in the least. "Hoothoot, Confusion!" he called without missing a beat.

Hoothoot, however, looked tired. It had landed back on the ground, panting slightly, but immediately its eyes glowed blue upon receiving the order. Again, blue light bathed the field, and Metapod shook violently in pain.

"It's almost over, Hoothoot! Peck!"

"Harden!" Carrie cried frantically.

Metapod's outer shell hardened and stiffened as Hoothoot flew closer. But just before it struck…

"Tackle, now!" Carrie ordered.

Metapod's eyes turned fierce, and he lunged with all his strength at Hoothoot. The tiny owl didn't let up at all, but the reinforced shell of Metapod was too tough for it. Hoothoot was thrown back and into the ground, Metapod landing on top of it.

And then, Metapod began glowing. The white light he became warped into a new shape, resembling a butterfly. When the light faded, Metapod had become just that – a purple butterfly with bright red eyes and tiny blue claws and feet.

"Wow…" Carrie said, staring at her new Pokémon in awe. She pointed her pokédex at it.

Meanwhile, Butterfree looked down and Hoothoot and screeched angrily. The Hoothoot hooted one last time and closed its eyes in submission.

"Hoothoot, return," Falkner called with a hint of sadness. "You did well, my friend. And now," he said, now addressing Carrie and Butterfree, "here comes round two! Go, Pidgeot!"

And as the giant cream-colored bird burst from its pokéball, the ray of hope that found Carrie upon Metapod's evolution evaporated.

The giant bird spread its large wings and almost sung its name. Butterfree, however, wasn't amused. Without an order, he flung himself at the Pidgeot.

"Wait, Butterfree!" Carrie cried out, but it was too late. Pidgeot had already whipped up a small tornado and Butterfree was sucked inside, spinning violently around.

"I think it's had enough of a demonstration," Falkner said casually. His Pidgeot beat its wings once and the miniature tornado dispersed. Butterfree collapsed on the ground. The "demonstration" only seemed to anger Butterfree further, however, and he quickly stood up, and attempted his first flight on his new wings.

Still pointing her pokédex at Butterfree, she scanned his new moves, though admittedly, there weren't many.

She then aimed it at the Pidgeot. Falkner, meanwhile, sent his bird into the air, making it harder to scan. She did manage to catch it, however. The Pidgeot was at a much higher general level than any of Carrie's Pokémon.

She looked up and caught sight of Butterfree flying blinding towards the Pidgeot again.

"Butterfree, no!" she cried.

Again, it made no difference. Pidgeot simply slapped Butterfree with a wing and sent him flying back towards the ground.

"You can't win this with brute force, Butterfree! Pidgeot's too strong! Make use of your speed!"

Butterfree turned to glare at her; he was having enough trouble learning to fly properly, let alone fast. He turned back to the bird, ready to lunge again.

"Butterfree, can you create Poison Powder?" Carrie asked.

In response, Butterfree flapped his wings. Much to his surprise sprinkles of purple dust scattered on the ground in front of him. Satisfied, he took off once again, flying directly towards Pidgeot, this time scattering poison power with each flap of his wings.

And was met with the same results.

"Don't fly _at_ it, fly _over _it!" Carrie called, irritated with her Pokémon's lack of discipline. She did admit, though, she admired his determination.

"Pidgeot, Quick Attack!" Falker called.

Just as Butterfree reached Pidgeot's level, the bird shot towards it, ramming its body hard into the soft Butterfree. This time, the bug was able to right himself in the air, but he was visibly worn.

"Okay, Butterfree, we're going to try something else. Scatter Poison Powder! In the air, on the ground, just get as much out there as you can!"

Butterfree growled, but obeyed, and began spraying more purple powder throughout the arena. With a simple order, Pidgeot created another miniature tornado. The Gust attack gathered up most of the falling poison, but Butterfree relentlessly emitted more. Even more, when the Gust attack faded, the gathered dust swirled around, how drifting in the air currents.

_Perfect_, Carrie thought. _There's no way Pidgeot can fly around now without flying through that._

"That's enough of that," Falkner said, showing concern for the first time this battle. "Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!"

His giant bird sung again, and darted through a thick cloud of poison. The bird didn't seem to be effected at all as it soared through the air. It easily rammed itself into Butterfree, slamming him hard to the ground. As Pidgeot took to the sky once again, Butterfree remained on the ground.

"Ugh… come back, Butterfree," Carrie growled. _If you'd just listened to me in the first place_…

She stared at the Pidgeot again. There was no hope for Cyndaquil to even reach the bird, let alone defeat it… or was there?

"Okay, you're up, Cyndaquil!" she cried, releasing the fire-type once again. He still looked worn out from the battle with Hoothoot, but bravely stood up anyway, the fire on his back blazing.

"Smokescreen!" she ordered. Cyndaquil obeyed, all to familiar with the move by now.

"Again?" Falker said, clearly disappointed. "Pidgeot, Gust!"

Another tornado later and Cyndaquil's cover was gone. Even worse, the wind has stirred Butterfree's poison from the ground, causing Cyndaquil to start coughing.

"Ack, no! Cyndaquil, burn it away! Ember!"

Cyndaquil wasted no time in expelling some tiny fireballs straight at the ground, burning up the powder that lay there as well as what had been in his system.

"Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!" Falker commanded. Carrie glanced at the bird briefly, then back at Cyndaquil, still coughing up fireballs, and had an idea.

Just as Pidgeot reached ground level and turned straight towards Cyndaquil, Carrie shouted her orders.

"Get on it's back, now!"

The fire-type obeyed, leaping up as Pidgeot approached, and landed exactly where he planned, much to Carrie's surprise. Falkner, however, looked even more disappointed.

"Do you really think you're the first person to try that?" he taunted. "Do it, Pidgeot!"

At his command, the giant bird did a loop in the air, and Cyndaquil almost fell off, saving himself only by biting down on Pidgeot's head feathers.

"Get under there, Cyndaquil!" Carrie called. "Hide under its feathers and hold on!"

Pidgeot continued to loop, flying even faster, trying to fling the fire-type from its back, but Cyndaquil was happily protected by feathers all around. Falkner didn't seem to expect that; He opened his mouth as if to call out a command, but all that happened was his mouth hanging open.

"Okay, Cyndaquil," Carrie continued, "Ember attack! Aim for its right wing!"

Unfortunately, Pidgeot's hearing was just as good as Cyndaquil's, and it made a sharp right turn, positioning its right wing underneath it. By some odd stroke of luck, though, Cyndaquil confused his left and right, and fired a barrage of fireballs into Pidgeot's exposed left wing.

Carrie sighed, but took it how it was. "Again, Cyndaquil! Keep striking that same spot!"

Another stream of fireballs bombarded the Pidgeot's wing. The bird continued it's futile effort to twist and loop, but Cyndaquil hung on tight. In addition, it appeared the poison had affected it after all, and was now starting to take its toll. Pidgeot began coughing and panting as Cyndaquil struck with another fire attack. This time, Pidgeot's feathers were set aflame. The bird cried out in pain and plummeted to the ground, crashing hard.

Cyndaquil was finally flung from Pidgeot's back from the force of the collision. Both Pokémon remained on the ground briefly, before Cyndaquil managed to crawl to his feet. Pidgeot was still smoking as Carrie called out.

"Ember!"

"Pidgeot, get away!"

The bird barely had time to look up before several more tiny fireballs exploded in its face. It cried in pain – even hurt, managing to sound as if it were singing – before giving in and falling back to the ground.

"Pidgeot, no!" Falkner cried. All the trainers' eyes, including Sam, Tori, and Nikki in the seats, were glued to the Pidgeot, waiting to see if it would recover. Meanwhile, Cyndaquil lay himself down, though he kept his fire alight to show he wasn't about to give in. Eventually, with a final small cry, Pidgeot gave in to unconsciousness.

Falkner stared out onto the battlefield, hardly able to comprehend what just happened. Eventually, he held out a pokéball and recalled his fallen friend.

"You did well, Pidgeot. Take a rest."

"Like, oh my _gawd_!" Tori called from the stands. "You won! You actually won! I totally don't believe it!"

Tori, followed by Nikki and Sam, jumped from their seats and ran across the field. Tori barely gave Carrie time to say thanks before she pulled her into a backbreaking hug.

"That was awesome!" Sam commented, practically jumping up and down. "I mean, really! You, a rookie, beat the gym leader's fully evolved Pidgeot! How incredible is that!"

"C-congratulations," Nikki whispered shyly.

"Thanks guys," Carrie choked out, feeling suddenly sick. "That was… terrifying. Cyndaquil, that was… awesome."

"Quil…" the tired Pokémon squeaked. Carrie recalled him so he can rest.

"Well," Falkner said, suddenly standing behind the small party, "Looks like I really underestimated you. You deserve this." He held out a tiny bright blue, U-shaped badge.

"Never thought I'd get it," Carrie said as she took it from him and pinned it proudly to her cap. "I saw that Pidgeot and almost cried."

"Excuse me," Sam cut in. "When can I have my battle?"

"A gym leader usually has more than two Pokémon," Falkner commented. "We can get started as soon as you're ready."

"Oh. Well then, looks like it's my turn!" Sam exclaimed. He pointed at dramatically at Falkner. "Now, prepare to get whipped! …Again!"

* * *

**A/N: Yes, two chapters in the span of (about) 24 hours, for two different stories, no less. What can I say? The sudden antisocial-ness I've developed this week did wonders for my writing. Don't get used to it, though.**

**Anyways... not much to say here, really. Still working on Carrie's "holier than thou" attitude adjustment. Though to be fair, I'd be pretty ticked too if a supposedly official tournament had bad planning like that. xD**

**The main reason why this was held up, aside from laziness, is that I couldn't figure out how Cyndaquil was going to defeat Pidgeot. No idea where the random inspiration came from, but suddenly it was there - if Pidgeot couldn't damage Cyndaquil, no matter how strong it was, it couldn't win. And what better way to do that than by hiding on top of your opponent? From there it was a matter of stalling for burn and poison damage, which eventually is what did the job. Oh, and in case you're wondering, in the anime universe, Falkner did have a Pidgeot, not a lousy Pidgey like in the game. I thought it would make for a more interesting battle.**

**Looks like Sam's up next, so next chapter we'll finally see him in action. And Falkner's got some more surprises to throw out there, in addition to the Pidgeot. Anyone care enough to guess (or remember) the other Pokemon he used?**

**Guess that's all for this one. Yeah...**


	8. She Has A Heart After All!

**Ch. 8 - She Has A Heart After All!**

Carrie, Tori, and Nichole returned to their seats in the stands as Sam and Falkner took their spots on the battlefield. Much to Carrie's surprise, Nichole seemed to be focused more on her than the battle-to-be. Carrie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"He's going to get crushed," she said in an attempt to distract herself.

Tori was the first to respond. "Don't say that! He might be, like, totally fashion challenged and clumsy, and… clueless… but… well, maybe you're right."

"Have you actually seen him battle?" Nichole asked shyly, still staring at Carrie.

"Well… no," Carrie admitted. "We'd tried to battle once, but…" She remembered how that battle went and made a mental note to buy him a new tent first thing after leaving the gym. She decided the other girls didn't need to know that fact, though. "…It got interrupted about two moves in. I haven't seen him battle since."

"You shouldn't do that," Nichole said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do what?"

"Make assumptions," Nichole whispered, flinching back as Carrie turned to glare hotly at her. "I-I mean… if you don't know his battle style…"

"Nichole, the fact that I beat this guy is a miracle in itself. Even I'm not naïve enough to think it was more than a fluke. Sam is a mess. He'll be lucky to take down even one of Falkner's Pokémon."

"We're about to find out," Tori intruded. "Now shush, they're starting! They've already chosen their Pokémon!"

Carrie and Nichole glared at each other for another few seconds before looking towards the field. Falkner's Pokémon was a rather large creature, with brown feathers, two long, skinny legs, and three feathery heads with necks as skinny as its legs. Sam, meanwhile, had chosen his newest Pokémon, Mareep.

"He's screwed up already, see?" Carrie pointed, a smug smile on her face.

"No he hasn't," Nichole whispered, sinking down in her seat as Carrie glared at her again. "E-Electric-types have the advantage against flying-types."

"He just caught that Mareep yesterday, that's why he wasn't watching the tournament. I doubt he's even trained it. Nevermind the type advantage, Falkner's Pokémon has more experience. Besides, it doesn't even have wings, how is it supposed to fly? I see no type advantage here. What the hell _is_ that thing, anyway?"

"You have a pokédex, use it," Tori snapped. "Now shh!"

Down on the field, the battle had begun. Sam moved first, ordering a Thundershock. Unfortunately, Carrie was right. The Mareep obeyed, but rather than targeting Falkner's Dodrio, the electric sheep blasted Sam instead.

"Dodrio, Quick Attack!" Falkner ordered. His large bird was more than willing to comply, and ran hastily forward. Surprisingly fast, the bird crossed the field in a matter of seconds, ramming itself hard into Sam's Mareep, who until then had been laughing in the face of his trainer.

"Mareep! Are you okay?" Sam cried as he stood himself up, smoking slightly. "Please, listen to me! We have to slow it down! Thunder Wave!"

Mareep either decided to trust Sam, or simply agreed with him on this one issue, but whatever the reason, Mareep stood up and launched a tiny blue electrical surge at Dodrio.

Dodrio, however, easily avoided the blast with its natural speed, without an order. Mareep tried again, but this time Dodrio jumped into the air, quite high. Sam looked up in awe as the bird nearly rammed its heads into the roof before coming crashing down on Sam's side of the field. Falkner wasted no time taking advantage of his shock.

"Fury Attack now!"

Before Mareep even turned around, Dodrio was on it, jabbing furiously with each of its three beaks. Mareep cried out in pain as blood lightly stained his yellow wool. But suddenly, Dodrio stopped, as if it were frozen.

"Oh damn it," Falkner muttered.

"What's Dodrio doing?" Carrie asked.

"Nothing," Tori replied. "Mareep's Static paralyzed it."

"Static?"

Tori sighed. "Mareep's special ability. You know they store electrical energy in their wool. Some of it can get discharged when an opponent makes contact, and paralyze them, just like a Thunder Wave."

"Quick Mareep, return!" Sam called, holding out Mareep's pokéball. The worn down sheep glared at him, but swallowed his pride and allowed the recall.

"So much for type advantage," Carrie said, casting a glare at Nichole once again. This time, though, she kept her eyes focused on the battlefield, though she looked as though it wasn't without great effort. "Interesting," Carrie continued. "Both of us had to recall our ace in the first battle."

"Go, Abra!" Sam shouted, throwing his pokéball to the field, revealing his most trusted partner. The thing looked asleep, as usual.

"Hm…" Falkner mumbled. "Dodrio, Quick Attack!"

With a loud cry that reminded Carrie of her alarm clock back home, Dodrio took off running again. This time, Sam was ready.

"Abra, Teleport!"

Just before Dodrio collided with the sleeping Abra, it vanished. Sam screamed as he dove sideways to avoid Dodrio, who was running too fast to stop and crashed into the wall of the arena. Abra, meanwhile, reappeared in the center of the field.

"We got it now! Hidden Power!"

"Dodrio, Rage!"

As several multicolored balls of energy encircled Abra, Dodrio let out a deafening cry, turned around, and charged Abra. The tiny Pokémon squeaked, losing his concentration and therefore causing his attack to fade into nothing, while Dodrio came barreling into him, sending him flying into the wall behind Falkner.

"Now, Peck attack, Dodrio!" Falkner ordered.

"Abra, stop it with Confusion!"

"Maybe he does have it in him," Carrie said, more to herself than anyone else. "Nothing can stop that."

She was quickly proved wrong, however. Abra cast his blue glow all around the arena, momentarily snaring Dodrio, but the bird's rage proved more powerful than Abra's mental abilities, and rather easily forced itself to run on, much to Sam's surprise. Abra looked visibly worn from his failed attempt to stop Dodrio, and had no other option to Teleport away at the last second, again leaving Dodrio to crash into a wall. The relentless bird didn't give in, however, and almost immediately turned around and sped towards Abra yet again, now hovering just above the ground in front of Sam.

"Abra, look out!" Sam cried, knowing Dodrio was much too fast for Abra to launch any kind of offensive before being struck.

As fortune would have it, however, the paralysis kicked in a second time, causing Dodrio to freeze up just about a third of the way across the battlefield and topple over. Sam tried to make the most of the opportunity.

"Abra, Teleport onto Dodrio's back and use Confusion!"

Ever loyal, Abra obeyed. Dodrio screeched in pain, being unable to do anything else. However it quickly regained control of its muscles and stood up, causing Abra to tumble off.

"Teleport out of there, hurry!"

"Enough of this. Dodrio, use Pursuit!"

Just as Abra teleported away, Dodrio vanished in a flash of black. Abra reappeared, for safety's sake, a few feet from the roof of the building, though the strain of the constant teleporting and hovering left him to wobble in the air unsteadily. Unfortunately for him, Dodrio reappeared a second later behind Abra, again in a flash of Dark-Type energy, and rammed into Abra, both of them hitting the ground hard. Though worn, Dodrio shakily stood up once again, but Abra was out cold.

"Nice try," Falkner said as Sam recalled his partner, looking heartbroken. "Trying to use your friend's strategy yourself. Your Abra just isn't built for that kind of physical endeavor."

"Yeah, well, your Dodrio's weak now, Abra did his job," Sam shot back, looking just as confident as ever. "So let's win this one, Mareep! Thundershock!"

As the sheep burst from his pokéball, Dodrio took off running. With a very weak-sounding "Maaah!" that caused Sam's face to fall, the sheep hurled a bolt of electricity at the oncoming bird. By some stroke of luck, paralysis kicked in for a third time just as Dodrio attempted to jump, and the bird took the brunt of the blast, toppling over and, with a final cry, submitted to unconsciousness.

"Hah!" Sam shouted in victory. "See what happens when you do as I say?"

Mareep seemed to be paying him no attention however, more focused on trying to clean his blood-stained wool. Falkner, meanwhile, tossed another pokéball onto the field, revealing a black crow with a yellow beak, and a small red ring around its tail.

"Game over," Sam said, clenching his fist. "Murkrow are horribly weak Pokémon, no matter how rare! We've got this, Mareep! Thundershock!"

"Night Shade!" Falkner ordered.

Mareep stumbled as he fired a weak jolt of lightning at the crow, but the attack was way off target. Murkrow, however, was spot-on, and the blast of purple ghost energy from its eyes exploded on contact with the sheep Pokémon. When the dust cleared, Mareep lay on his back, twitching, but otherwise showing no signs of continuing.

"It was a good battle. But you've lost," Falkner said sternly. Sam looked at his fallen Mareep for a minute, and then fell to his knees, recalling the sheep. Likewise, Falkner recalled his Murkrow, and began the walk across the field.

"Don't even say it," Tori said up in the stands. Carrie obeyed and kept her mouth shut, but that didn't stop the smug grin from spreading on her face. Nichole, meanwhile, would fall off her chair if she sunk any lower; the redness on her face was noticeable even as she tried to hide underneath the chairs.

"Come on," Tori said with a sigh. "We'd better go make sure he's all right…"

* * *

"You remember what I said when I let you come with me," Carrie said. "I'm not waiting for you. 'As long as you don't slow me down,' remember?"

Sam had taken his loss rather well, considering how confident he had been at an easy victory beforehand. The three girls walked with him to his room at the Pokémon center, where Carrie packed away her belongings in her own room before joining the group in Sam's room.

"I know," Sam said, hanging his head.

"But Sam!" Nichole urged from next to him on the bed. "If you don't get the badge here, you can't compete in the league!"

"It's okay, really," Sam said. "I did already promise I wouldn't slow her down. And besides, we can't waste time. There are more important things that Carrie and I have to do."

"Sam!" Carrie shouted fiercely and tossed the nearest heavy object, a television remote, at him, but it was too late; the damage had been done.

"Like what?" Tori asked as Sam rubbed his bleeding nose.

"Nothing you two have to worry about," Carrie answered. Tori looked as though she was about to protest, but Carrie shot her a death glare, and she closed her mouth.

"It must be important if you're giving up your shot at the league this year…" Nichole contributed instead.

"I'll just try again when I get stronger," Sam said, dotting the blood with a tissue. "When we go through Goldenrod, before Ecruteak, I'll loop around back here. I'm more concerned about Mareep than my badge."

"What about him?" Tori asked. "The nurse said he just needs rest, he wasn't too badly injured."

"It's not that… it's just, how am I ever going to get him to obey me now, after that epic fail? I couldn't get him to listen at first, and part of me suspects he only obeyed when he did because he knew it was the best course of action, not because I told him to do it. But he lost… and since I _did_ tell him what to do, now he'll just pin it on me. I'll never get him to do what I say again."

"But surely… if _he_ thought it was the right thing to do, and he was going to do it anyway, he can't blame you for that, right?" Nichole asked.

"Not really," Tori replied for Sam. "Whether Mareep was going to take those actions anyway or not, Sam still ordered them first. So Mareep could, like, just as easily associate that loss to Sam."

"You really know how to cheer a guy up," Carrie grunted as Sam buried his face in a pillow. If she were honest with herself, part of her was angry because she knew she was in a similar situation with her Butterfree, and Tori's explanation was just as valid to her as it was to Sam.

But of course, she couldn't admit that in front of everyone else. While Tori and Nichole tried cheer Sam up, Carrie headed downstairs to pick up her Pokémon, who were being healed by the nurse. She quickly assured Sam she wasn't leaving town just yet as he panicked before slamming the door and hurrying down the hallway before anyone decided to follow her.

"Ah, there she is now," came a familiar voice. Carrie looked up and was surprised to see Falkner standing there in the lobby, with another familiar face, Spearow and all – the boy with the Zubat that Cyndaquil had lost to a few days ago.

"You?" the boy said, not bothering to hide his surprise. "_You_ defeated Falkner?"

In answer, Carrie simply pointed to the badge now pinned to her hat. Without a word, she turned to recover her Pokémon, but much to her annoyance, Falkner and the boy followed her.

"I hear you have a rather… irate Butterfree," the boy said as the nurse went to the back room to retrieve Carrie's pokéballs.

"What of it?" Carrie snapped.

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a trade. As you know, I train at Violet's Flying-Type gym. I have this Furret here, but he clearly can't fly, and honestly, I think he's more suited for life on the road rather than sitting still in a town. But your Butterfree, from the sound of it, could use a bit of a more – how should I put this – seasoned trainer. How about it?"

"I'm only really interested in Ice-Types," Carrie answered, turning her back on the two men.

"You're in the wrong region, then, girl. Ice-Types are few and far between, here. And the ones that _are_ around aren't easily found for miles."

Carrie grunted in response, though she honestly thought about the offer. While not an Ice-Type, the Furret was probably at least reasonably well trained and would at least listen to her, unlike Butterfree, who had a mind of his own. Trading it away solved the problem of not only trying to convince the bug to listen, but she'd also get a strong addition to her team in exchange. It was natural to her what the logical choice was.

"You want a trade? Fine. He's all yours."

"Really?" Falkner said, taken aback. "That Butterfree has huge potential, and you're just willing to give him away so quickly?"

"With all due respect," Carrie spat as the nurse came back with her pokéballs, "he's my Pokémon, and what I do with him is my business. Besides, this way I won't have to bother wasting my time trying to train him."

"That's a horrible thing to say!" chimed in the nurse. She reached for Carrie's pokéballs, which she had placed on the desk in front of her, but Carrie swiped them up first. "How is your time wasted on trying to help a living being?"

"Not that it's your business, but the thing won't even listen to me anyways. What's the point of trying to force it?"

Falkner sighed. "If you want to trade him away, that's your business, but with that attitude–"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before," Carrie said, growing more and more irritated by the second, proving Falkner's unfinished lecture correct. "Here," Carrie held out her hand, Butterfree's pokéball in her palm. The boy with the Spearow took it wordlessly, but stared at Furret's pokéball for a moment as if he was second-guessing himself, wondering if he was really sure this was a good idea.

Carrie couldn't help notice that she had to choke down an odd feeling as the boy picked up Butterfree's pokéball. A little voice inside her head told her this was a mistake, but she had no idea why she was suddenly feeling as though she didn't want to let Butterfree go. _It's not worth the time, _she forced herself to think. "I've got things to do here," she said. The boy reluctantly dropped a blue Great Ball into her still open palm.

"No," said the nurse. "I can't allow this. How could Professor Elm trust such an uncaring girl with a Pokémon?"

Carrie had just about had enough. "For your information, Cyndaquil and Spinarak _agreed_ to go with me. I'm not forcing them."

A wave of pure shock flashed across the nurse's face, but she quickly regained her composure. "Then why don't you ask the _Furret_ first?"

"Fine! Fine, whatever!" Carrie shouted, dropping the Great Ball to her feet. A long, thin brown and cream striped Pokémon emerged.

"Furrrret!" it shrieked happily.

"Hey buddy," the boy said, and pointed at Carrie behind it. "This girl is your trainer now. Like we talked about, remember?"

"Furrrr…" the Pokémon responded, sounding sad.

"I know, buddy, I know. But she can give you what you want… I think. You don't want to be cooped up anymore, do you?"

The Furret shook its head violently. He then turned around and began squirming his way around Carrie's legs.

"Hi…" she muttered weakly. "Can we move this along please?"

"Is… do you want to go with her?"

Carrie tried her best to put on a smile for the long Pokémon. It didn't work. Even so, the Furret beamed at her and rubbed against her leg affectionately.

"Well, okay then… take care, buddy," the boy said, and the Furret dove into his arms in tight embrace. Seconds later, the Furret was back in his pokéball, safely on Carrie's belt.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, my friends are waiting," Carrie said. She turned to Falkner and said: "Thanks for the badge." Then she turned to the boy with the Spearow, wondering if the thing could even speak – she'd never seen a more well-behaved Pokémon – and added: "Take… take care of him." Then, without another word or even a glance at the nurse, she turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs, all the way back to Sam's room.

* * *

"You _what_?" all three of them shouted when Carrie told them what happened.

"I traded Butterfree. Now I don't have to train him. I got this in exchange." Carrie dropped Furret's pokéball to the ground, and the creature popped out. He took in his surroundings for a second and then squeaked, hiding behind Carrie's legs.

"I think he's scared," Sam observed. "Too many new people."

"Why in the world would you trade for this?" Nichole asked rather loudly, quite unusual behavior for her. Furret let out a whimper. "N-not that there's anything wrong with Furrets! But… trading just to get out of training your Butterfree? That's awful!"

Carrie looked at her in shock. Even Tori and Sam stared at her, mouths hanging open. Nichole suddenly blushed furiously and backed away, surprised and embarrassed by her own sudden outburst.

"Come here," Carrie said quietly, looking at Tori, and walked to the door. Tori shot her a curious glance, but obeyed. "The rest of you, wait here." Nichole, Sam, and Furret just looked on curiously as Carrie led Tori out of the room and across the hallway to her room, to which she still had the key. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it. Tori sat down on the bed.

"Nichole was right," she said, not meeting Tori's gaze. "I did trade Butterfree just to get out of training him."

Tori looked as though she were struggling to speak. Carrie watched her as she tried to put her thoughts into words. Eventually, managed to voice the same concerns Nichole had.

"Nichole's right… that's awful," she said. "But… I think we'd already gathered that much. You told us so when you first came back in. So… why the secrecy? What's this about?"

Carrie shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know…" she admitted, her voice getting louder with each word. "When you were talking to Sam about his Mareep… I realized I was in the same position. We both had a Pokémon who we were already having trouble controlling, and then we both subjected them to a loss in battle, through our own commands. I… I already have my hands full as it is. Spinarak won't battle for me unless _he_ thinks it's worth the challenge. And Cyndaquil… I don't even know what's going through his mind. I don't have time to worry about another Pokémon who has issues with me."

"Carrie, you keep saying that, but, like… what does it _mean_?" Tori asked gently, standing up and walking up to Carrie. "Why don't you have time? What is this whole secret mission that you and Sam seem to be on? You can tell me."

"No, I can't. I shouldn't have even told him. It's too dangerous."

"Well, we all know _something_ is happening, and I'm totally not cool with this whole secrecy thing. Let me help… You can tell Sam, who you claim you don't even like… but you can't tell me?" She put a hand on Carrie's shoulder.

"It's bad enough I've got one loony risking his life to help me, I don't-"

"Risking his life? Like, what are you trying to _do_, anyway?"

"I'm trying to find my dad's murderous Machamp, okay?" Carrie blurt out, then quickly face-palmed.

"…What?"

"Ugh… You can't tell anyone about this, okay? And you're not getting any more than Sam knows."

"It's better than being left in the dark!"

Carrie sighed. "Okay, well… My dad was… violent. He had a Machamp who was even more violent. He didn't want me to be a trainer, but I left anyway because I couldn't take it anymore. They both tried to stop me, but my mom cut in and bought me the time to escape. Next thing I know, I hear that my house is burned down, my mom is hurt and staying with Professor Elm, and my dad and his Machamp are nowhere to be found. Then, Sam tells me he's seen a Machamp heading towards Violet City. Alone. I can't imagine why he'd leave his glorious home; he was more comfortable there than I was. All I can think of is that he's after me for some reason. But I can't let that stop me. I need to find out where my dad is, and why Machamp turned on him."

"Ouch," was all Tori could say. "Did you try asking your mom what happened?"

"No," Carrie said. "I doubt she even knows. It's complicated. Anyway, that's enough… Sam doesn't even know the whole story, you do. That's enough."

"So, like, why did you tell me all of that and not him, if he's the one you asked to help you?"

Carrie had to think about that one. "I didn't ask him to help. He coaxed it out of me, and offered. I… I don't know why I told you all of that, honestly."

"So let me see if I understand," Tori whispered, looking Carrie straight in the eye. "You're trying to find your dad's Machamp, who you totally think is out to get you, just to satisfy your curiosity?"

"Pretty much," Carrie admitted sheepishly. "I mean, it's more than just that… I swore when I set out on this trip that I'd become strong enough to get revenge on him for all he's put me through… but I know I can't take him on and win yet."

There was a brief silence as Tori took in all the information before Carrie spoke again.

"But now do you see why I don't have time to waste on a Pokémon who won't listen to me? I have to find Machamp and find out what happened that caused him to turn on my dad."

"No, I don't," Tori said. "In fact, I don't get why you even want to find him in the first place. You think he's trying to kill you! You should be, like, trying to avoid him, at least until you're stronger! And what's more important right now is, I totally don't understand how dealing with Butterfree ties in to all this. You don't even know where Machamp is, and even if you did, you know you can't beat him now, you said so yourself. It sounds to me like you have plenty of time to spend training. Isn't that what you're going to be doing anyway? Training until you're strong enough to defeat him?"

"Tori, that's not all of it," Carrie admitted, walking to the bed and sitting down, Tori following her lead. "Yeah, the whole Machamp-revenge thing is one story, but… Butterfree is another completely, that just happens to tie in, in an odd way. You want to know what's really bothering me right now? I didn't think twice about any of this once I realized that trading Butterfree away was the easy way out. It all made perfect sense to me. I wouldn't have to waste time trying to convince him to listen to me, and I'd get a well-trained, stronger Pokémon in return."

"…But?" Tori urged.

"But… when that guy took Butterfree's pokéball from me… I had this weird feeling. Like… I don't even know what to call it. But I don't think I wanted him to."

"You do care about Butterfree," Tori whispered.

"But why?" Carrie shouted. "I can't see any reason to! He never listened to me."

"He did as a Metapod. He totally obeyed you, very well too, in the tournament battles, despite what Kit said about him. And he battled well, too. And again when he fought Falkner's Hoothoot. From what you've told me, he was an angry Pokémon since the moment you caught him. So… he may be easily agitated, yes, and he may have disobeyed you right when he evolved, but… maybe he was frustrated."

"Frustrated?" Carrie asked, confused.

"Well, yeah… what you were asking him to do… he only just evolved, and you expected him to know how to fly as well as Falkner's Pidgeot. But Metapod – well, Butterfree then – had never flown before. I personally thought he handled himself very well, considering, even if he did keep trying to charge right in. I mean, like, anyone would be totally frustrated at being asked to do something they've never done before, and being expected to do it perfectly, too. Add that to the fact that Butterfree was never really a 'happy' Pokémon to begin with, and it just… makes sense that he wouldn't listen to you."

"I hadn't thought of that," Carrie admitted. "You're right… I never really thought about the fact that Butterfree might need to learn how to fly. I just thought it was… I don't know, built into their brains or something."

"Newborn humans aren't born knowing how to walk, Carrie," Tori whispered. "It's the same with Pokémon."

Carrie was silent, lost in thought, her anger evaporating.

"You're totally a mess, you know that?" Tori chuckled.

"This whole situation is a mess," Carrie shot back, but managed a small smile.

"How did Butterfree feel about being traded?"

Carrie looked taken aback by the question, followed by an embarrassed blush. "I… I didn't ask him."

Tori looked disappointed. "You just traded him away without even telling him or asking if he wanted to go to someone else?"

"Like I said, I didn't think about it, okay?" Carrie snapped. "Besides, he seemed to hate me, why would he not want to be trained by someone else?"

"You didn't really want to trade him, did you?"

Carrie thought about that. Swallowing her pride, with a visible gulp, she forced out the words she didn't want to admit. "I did then… but I wish I didn't."

"Come on," Tori said, taking her arm and standing up. "Let's go get Butterfree back."

* * *

**A/N: ****Yeah, I'm on a roll this month. What can I say? I've spent a lot of my anti-social time reading other fanfics and it's really gotten me in the mood to work on my own. I'm not sure I like how this chapter ended up... I like it to the point of Sam's gym battle, but after that, something about it just bugs me. Can't put my finger on it, though, after re-reading it three times for the last three nights each, so, up it goes.**

**It's hard writing an angsty teenager. It really is. It seems it's much easier writing everyone else, but I actually have to struggle to put myself into Carrie's mind, because I'm so not used to thinking the way she does. **

**Anyways... yeah. Falkner had a Dodrio in the anime, too. So here is it's cameo. Fun fact: I originally intended for him to use a Farfetch'd instead of Murkrow, but I don't think the whole spinning the leek to deflect the electricity thing from the anime would actually be possible, so I scratched that plan. Not sure why I went with Murkrow other than the fact that it originated in Johto.**

**More angry Carrie... I hope I wrote that whole second half well enough. As I said, it's hard getting to think like her... So I just hope people can understand her thought process behind why she traded Butterfree. And then how she realized she was wrong and did have an attachment to him. Meh.  
**

**So um... next chapter is looking like Carrie and Tori try to get Butterfree back, and when that whole ordeal is settled, it's onwards towards the next gym. Oh, and eventually, maybe not in the next chapter but eventually, we'll explore why Sam is only just starting to collect badges despite being so late into the league season, because I'm sure everyone's noticed how consistant that must be. /sarcasm**

**Yeah... more actual plot coming soon, to a fic near you. Maybe not this one, but some fic somewhere! Just kidding. It will be there, I promise. ...Somewhere.  
**


	9. Butterfree's Choice

**Ch. 9 - Butterfree's Choice**

Tori dragged Carrie as far as the hallway before stopping abruptly.

"Where did you do this trade, anyways?" she asked.

"Down in the lobby," Carrie replied. "When I was picking up my team after being healed."

"Then let's hope they're still down there!" Tori said, and resumed dragging Carrie behind her.

The two girls raced down the stairs and sped to the front counter before skidding to a stop. The nurse from before (or so Carrie assumed, they all looked the same to her) glanced up at the noise but upon seeing who it was standing in front of her, returned to working on her computer without a single word.

"Where are Falkner and that other kid?" Carrie barked.

"What's the matter? That Furret doesn't like you already?" the nurse asked in a horribly uncharacteristic condescending tone.

"Just answer the damn question!" Carrie bellowed.

"Please, this is really important," Tori cut in. "Do you know where they are?"

"No," the nurse responded, looking up from her work to properly meet Tori's gaze. "But I believe they are still in the Center. They went towards the basement just after _she_ left."

"What's down there?" Tori asked.

"The cafeteria and a few battle arenas. They're mostly used for exercise for the Pokémon staying at the Center while they recover, but occasionally trainers spar down there."

"Thank you very much!" Tori smiled wide before once again gripping Carrie's arm and dragging her away before she could let out some angry outburst. As she ran, she pulled out a hot pink cell phone and began rapidly pushing buttons one-handed, without even looking at it.

"What are you doing?" Carrie asked.

"Texting Nichole. We have to get Furret down here to trade him back, don't we?"

Carrie mentally slapped herself for not catching this slip up, but said nothing on the subject. "This is just a guess, but do you text people a lot?" she asked instead.

"How did you know?" Tori asked, surprised.

"Just a guess," Carrie repeated, and then added, "I didn't know phones could register that much input so fast."

Tori giggled like a schoolgirl before answering. "I guess I do totally text a lot."

"There they are!" Carrie cried as something caught her attention through a window to her right. Tori skidded to a stop and glanced around.

"Where?" she asked, puzzled. "All I see is a Spearow."

"That Spearow belongs to that kid I traded with."

"How can you tell?"

Carrie stared at the bird, sitting alone on the barrier between the stands and the battlefield, looking forward, motionless. "I just know," Carrie answered. "The door's locked," she added, trying it.

Having no other choice, the girls surveyed the inside of the room. From what they could see, it looked like a standard battlefield, complete with white markings painted on the ground dividing the field evenly and a small ring of blue seats going around the arena, similar to Falkner's gym layout, if a little smaller. The gym leader in question was likely off to the left of the battlefield, as his Pidgeot was just visible hovering in the air above their side of the battlefield. Across from him, to the girls' right, stood the Spearow's trainer, looking rather embarrassed, his hand on the back of his head, playing with his hair. In front of him was Butterfree, fluttering around animatedly. It appeared as though Butterfree was giving his new trainer a lecture.

Moments later, Butterfree turned around and hurled himself at Pidgeot. The large bird, however, simply created a windy tornado and blew the butterfly back to his side of the field, where he crashed to the ground.

The battle went on in a similar manner, with identical results each time. Nichole and Sam joined them after a while, with the reason for their delay being that they had trouble coaxing Furret to follow them. The Furret was currently watching the battle; he squealed happily at his old trainer through the window at first, but after seeing him working with Butterfree, his ears drooped and his squeals of delight faded into whimpers. Nichole tried to give him some attention to cheer him up.

It was over a half an hour later that Falkner and the boy emerged from the battlefield, engaged in conversation. Furret immediately bounded over to his old trainer, catching their attention. Carrie limped over as well, but Tori, deciding to take full control of the whole situation rather than have Carrie's attitude interfere further, stepped in front of her and spoke up.

"Hi, sorry to bother you, but I have a favor to ask."

"And what can I do for a pretty little lady like yourself?" the Spearow boy asked politely. His eyes were locked on Carrie behind her, however, and his voice was tainted with obvious caution.

Tori smiled brightly at the compliment before continuing. "Well, see, my friend here totally make, like, a huge mistake earlier. You remember her, right? Butterfree's trainer."

"How could I forget?" the boy asked, stroking his Spearow absentmindedly. The bird remained as neutral as ever. If it were enjoying the affection, it showed no sign of it.

Tori took a deep breath and then spoke so fast, she may as well have been texting. "Well, see, she, I mean… we all, all of us, we would really be happy if you could do a trade back. See, she never actually talked about trading Butterfree with us or with Butterfree himself, it was just sort of a spur of the minute thing and she would really like to have him back."

"…uh… I see," the boy said.

"The trade was technically illegal anyway," Falkner interjected.

Carrie looked confused, but Sam spared her having to speak.

"Huh? Why was it illegal?"

"The trade was never recorded," Falkner explained. "I would hope you all know by now that there has to be a record of owning a Pokémon, in case of a theft or disputed trade. Usually this is done with a pokédex when you first catch the Pokémon. The same goes for trades. There has to be a record of the change in ownership."

"I didn't know that," said the boy. "Why didn't you speak up when I made the offer to her?"

"I knew she'd be back," Falkner said dismissively. "In any case, as a gym leader, if I witnessed the trade I have the authority to manually report it for the records."

"I didn't know gym leaders could do that," Nichole said in awe.

"There's more to this job than just battling challengers and having respect in your town," Falkner said with a smug smile.

"So…" Sam said, drawing everyone's attention. "If the illegal trade was witnessed by you, since you have the authority to change the records, doesn't that make it legal?"

Falkner shrugged. "Obviously, it's preferred if the trades are recorded electronically so that the change is made immediately upon trading. It's still an illegal trade until I have sent the change to the league, which I have not done yet."

"This is fascinating and all," Carrie interrupted, "but can we get back to the point?"

"Yes," Tori said, taking over once again before Carrie got out of hand. "So, what do you say? Will you, like, reverse the trade? Pleeeeease?"

"Well… I can't deny that I have concerns about Carrie's training methods…" The boy started, which Tori understood to mean 'Carrie's anger problem'. "But I guess he did belong to her first, and I don't really have a right to keep them apart. But it's not really up to me, is it? It's Butterfree's decision."

"Where is Butterfree, anyway?" Tori asked.

"The doorway," Nichole answered. Everyone turned to face the door to the battlefield, where Butterfree was peeking out from over the top of the still-open door. Upon having every eye in the room on him, Butterfree let out a loud cry, dove behind the door, and flew back into the arena.

"Let me try talking to him," Tori said, then stepped around Falkner and the boy and followed Butterfree into the room. Carrie walked to the window and watched rather than following and listening. Inside, Tori had released her Ledian, for reasons she couldn't even imagine. Behind her, Sam had struck up a conversation with Falkner.

"So you gotta tell me! How did your Dodrio escape my Abra's Confusion? I thought psychic attacks were like… unstoppable!"

"Not even close," the boy answered. Falkner put a hand on his shoulder and took over.

"Psychic abilities are certainly unique. Psychic Pokémon have an advantage over physical based Pokémon such as fighting-types, or even other elemental users who attack from a distance, because their abilities are almost instant – most psychic attacks don't require any sort of travel time. But that doesn't make them invincible. Those abilities need to be trained just like any other. Your Abra is still young. It's only natural that his psychic abilities aren't very developed yet. Yes, he can control them well enough, as your battle demonstrated. But he lacks the mental discipline and training to put real force behind the attacks. Think of it like how a fighter needs to train their body and their punching, or a flyer needs to learn how to fly, a psychic needs to develop their mental abilities."

Sam listened all too intently to Falkner's explanation, though Nichole and even Carrie thought the whole question was obvious (despite the fact that she'd called Abra's Confusion attack unstoppable earlier). Nichole had released her Hoppip and was watering the tiny Pokémon. Carrie turned her attention back to Tori and Butterfree. After a few moments with Butterfree and Ledian circling each other, Tori rushed to the door and called Carrie inside. She hastily followed Tori onto the battlefield.

"Okay, so like, here's what I think Ledian worked out…" Tori explained. "Butterfree doesn't really like this new guy either. But he won't go with you willingly. So… I think he totally wants to battle you. And if you beat him, then he'll give you another chance. But if not, then he, like, wants to be let free."

"You're joking, right?" Carrie asked.

Tori shook her head. "Not that I can tell."

"Exactly how _can_ you tell?"

"Well, it's easy," Tori explained nervously. "I gave him yes or no questions; he only had to shake his head to answer."

"Right… well, I guess we'll have to get this over with, huh?"

"Wait, Carrie. You should, like, look determined. Let Butterfree see that you're sorry and that you really want him back."

Carrie sighed. "Tori, I don't do the whole 'compassion' thing very well."

"We'll just have to teach you! You'll totally get it in time."

* * *

Spinarak had refused to battle his former teammate. And so it was that Carrie stood with Cyndaquil alongside her opposite Butterfree, while Tori, Nichole, Sam, Furret, Falkner, and the Spearow boy sat in the stands.

"Alright then," Carrie said. "Here we go. Cyndaquil, Ember!"

Cyndaquil unleashed a barrage of tiny fireballs at the butterfly. Butterfree responded by whipping up a blast of wind and blowing them away.

"Well that's just great, how are we supposed to win now? He taught Butterfree a new move!"

Cyndaquil shrugged but tried again anyway, only to be met with the same results. Then the butterfly flew above him, releasing a cloud of sparkling green dust.

"Which one is that?" Carrie asked the group behind her.

"That's Sleep Powder," Sam called back to her.

"Great…" Carrie growled. But to her surprise, Cyndaquil wasn't anywhere near the dust cloud; instead, he was on the other side of the field, with Butterfree flying directly at him. Just as he dove down, Cyndaquil sped out of the way, turned, and launched another Ember flurry.

"Wait, what? Cyndaquil can use Quick Attack?" Carrie said in surprise. The group behind her collectively groaned.

After putting out the fire that burned on his wing, Butterfree turned and blew a puff of purple dust at Cyndaquil. This time Carrie recognized the move, having been an important part of her gym battle victory.

"Burn it away, and hurry!"

Cyndaquil obeyed, and shot another barrage of tiny fireballs into the Poison Powder, burning the dust away. Butterfree looked annoyed now, and flow in close for a Tackle. As it neared, Cyndaquil leapt up and tackled him to the ground from above.

"Okay, Ember again!" Carrie called.

Again her Pokémon obeyed, releasing yet another string of fireballs down on his opponent. Butterfree screeched in pain as he forcefully threw Cyndaquil off him and took back to the air. He turned to face Carrie, but instead of attacking, he landed on the ground and bowed his head.

"Now what's he doing?" Carrie wondered.

"I think he's surrendering," Sam responded.

"What? Really?" She looked back towards Butterfree, who fluttered over and landed in front of her. The Pokémon nodded. "Well then, uh… I'm… relieved," she said, awkwardly patting Butterfree on the lead. She looked to Tori, who smiled slightly and gave a thumbs up.

"Well, that could have been better," Tori said to herself. "But it's a start."

* * *

Several minutes later, the small group stood in the hallway outside the arena. Nichole and Tori were happily playing with Furret while Sam continued talking to Falkner about his battle style. Carrie and the boy with the Spearow stared at each other.

"Alright, well… I guess Butterfree wanted to go with you after all," the boy said, holding out Butterfree's pokéball.

"Not really," Carrie said, taking it and replacing it in the boy's hand with Furret's.

"What does that mean?" he asked as Carrie turned away. Furret ran up and greeted his trainer happily; the boy was more than willing to return the affection. Tori and Nichole stepped up behind him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Tori said. "Hey, you know, we, like, never did get your name."

"It's Dexter, and it's no problem at all," the boy answered before turning back to his Furret. "Sorry boy, it doesn't look like you'll be traveling after all," he said, petting his Pokémon's head.

"Furrrr…." The Pokémon cooed. Then, unexpectedly, he darted between Nichole's legs and wrapped himself around her.

"Oh?" she gasped, nearly tripping.

"I think he likes you," Dexter said, laughing. "How about it, then? Do you wanna trade?"

Nichole's face lit up a bright red. "Oh! I… n-no thanks… he's cute and all, but… I love my Pokémon. I don't want to lose them."

"Ah, I see…" Dexter said sadly. "Well then, why don't you just take him with you?"

"You mean you'd just give him to me?" Nichole gasped.

"Yeah, why not? He likes you, and he wants to travel. He can't do that with me. How about that, boy? Sound good to you?"

"Furrrrr! Furrr!" the Furret chirped, rubbing himself against Nichole's leg.

"It's settled then," Dexter said, taking Nichole's hand and placing Furret's pokéball in it. "Take good care of him now. And while we're at it, you should give me your phone number so I can check in on him."

"Oh, real smooth!" Tori giggled, nudging Dexter in the side with her elbow as Nichole tried to step back in embarrassment and tripped over Furret.

* * *

Carrie sat outside the Pokémon Center waiting for the rest of the group. She rolled Butterfree's pokéball in her hands absentmindedly, wondering what she should say to him. After several minutes, Tori walked out and sat on the bench next to her.

"Just do it already," she said instead of the greeting she had planned.

"What am I supposed to say?" Carrie barked.

"Gee, I don't know, maybe 'I'm sorry for throwing you away'?"

"Just like that?"

"Well no, of course not!"

"Then what am I supposed to say?"

Tori sighed. "Carrie, I totally mean this in the nicest way possible… we need to work on your attitude. I'll help you, but you have to, like, want to change; I can't just make it happen. Okay? Now, just let Butterfree out and tell him you're sorry."

Carrie resisted the urge to roll her eyes; she knew Tori was right. Instead she let Butterfree's pokéball fall to the ground, releasing him. He flew up to eye level with an annoyed look.

"Listen, before you do anything…" Carrie started. She glanced sideways at Tori, who smiled at her encouragingly. Carrie sighed again. "Alright, look, I… I'm sorry about what I did, okay?"

"You can do better than that," Tori said, patting her on the back.

"What? What more can I- Oh, alright. Um…"

"Give her a break," Tori said to Butterfree. "She's new at this." The butterfly simply tilted his head.

"Free…"

"Okay, um… Do you forgive me?" Carrie asked.

"Free," Butterfree said. Carrie looked at Tori again. She shrugged. Butterfree hung his head and fluttered up to land on Carrie's before recalling himself into his pokéball.

"I guess that's a yes," Tori said with a giggle.

"... Was that it? Ugh, that was so embarrassing and… and… awkward!" Carrie grumbled.

"Then maybe you won't put yourself in that position in the future?" Tori said with a smile. Carrie didn't answer.

Nichole and Dexter emerged from the center a few minutes later, hand in hand. Tori watched them giggling to themselves fondly. Carrie cleared her throat to get their attention, causing an angry glare and an elbow to the ribs from Tori.

"Oh, hi guys," Nichole said, her face red. "So, uh, w-what are your plans now?" Nichole asked, eager for a change of subject as soon as she noticed Tori staring at her hands.

"I don't know yet," Tori said. "I might just go back home and train a little bit. What about you, Carrie?"

Carrie looked up from her spot on the bench, not having been paying much attention to the conversation. "Me? Oh, uh, I guess I'm going to keep trying to take on the region's gym circuit."

"Good luck with _that_," Dexter said, a bit more harshly than he intended. "It's really late into the season; you have a lot of catching up to do if you want to compete in the league this year." Carrie just grunted in response.

"Alright, well, I'm going to give Nikki here a tour of the gym, so I guess we'll see you guys around." Dexter replied.

"Oh… do you want to come with us?" Nichole asked.

"No thanks," Carrie answered. "I have to get going. Besides, I beat Falkner; I have no reason to explore his gym."

"Oh… well, I guess… this is good-bye then…" Nichole whispered. She appeared to be holding back tears.

"Aww!" Tori cried. She ran up to Nichole and pulled her away from Dexter into a hug. "I'm gonna miss you…"

"I'll miss you too," Nichole said, hugging Tori back. "Both of you," she added with a pointed look towards Carrie. Carrie stood up and put her hand on Nichole's shoulder, but Tori pulled her into the hug.

"Good luck out there," Carrie choked out, unsure of exactly what to say.

"You too," Nichole whispered, smiling.

After a brief exchange between Tori and Dexter, both he and Nichole waved goodbye and walked off towards the gym. The two remaining girls watched them until they were out of sight, then Tori struck up conversation again.

"So, going to take on the gyms, huh? Would you mind if I, like, came along with you?"

"What? Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, _someone_ totally has to teach you how to properly interact with others!" Tori giggled.

"No, seriously, Tori. Do you remember anything that I told you back in my room earlier?"

"What, about your dad's insane Machamp? What about it?"

"You do realize I'm going after him, right? Are you really sure you thought about this?"

"Actually, no, Carrie," Tori snapped. "I didn't think about it for too long, but, like, I still like the idea."

"Well, I…." Carrie stuttered, and then paused to think. "I guess I wouldn't mind having the company."

"Don't worry," Tori said happily, "you'll totally love having me around! So… what's our next stop?"

Carrie sat back down as she thought about her plan. "Okay, well… first I need to talk to Falkner. I haven't seen him leave, so he must still be in the Center. I need to see if he knows anything about Machamp, and if not, at least he'll be on the lookout, and maybe he can warn the other gym leaders. And then I have to go buy Sam a new tent before we leave town-"

The oddity of Carrie's last statement caught Tori's attention. "A tent? Why?"

"It's a long story… but basically Cyndaquil accidentally burned his down when I first met him. That's why our battle was cut short. Anyways… after that, I guess it's on to wherever the nearest gym is."

"Alright," Tori said. "Then let's go get Sam. Last time I saw him, he was totally into his conversation with Falkner anyway. Then we can all go and work on fixing you, together."

Tori didn't miss the slight smile Carrie gave her as she turned and walked into the Pokémon Center. She couldn't help but smile herself as she follower her friend; maybe there was a chance to change Carrie after all.

* * *

**A/N: According to my profile before posting this... 'Updated: 12-16-11' It's now March 17th in 2013... over a year since this was actually updated. I've had the first half of this chapter written for most of that time and I've been working on fixing and finishing the entire thing for half of March because I really hate the last chapter - but since it's already posted it would be silly to just change it now - so I had to work with trying to fix it in this chapter and I just don't like the whole situation. It didn't feel right.****  
**

**In any case, we're beginning (or going to be beginning) to see Carrie start to learn how to be compassionate and all that. A lot sooner than I intended or expected also, but honestly I think it will work out for several reasons. Firstly, after over a year, going back and reading this kinda makes me depressed at how badly written and poorly planned it is. Second, I haven't really handled Carrie's character the way I thought I had been, the way I'd been intending this whole time. Third, I feel like this story is just moving waaaay too slowly, both in comparison to my other two as well as most of the other writers I'm following both past and present, so hopefully this will help it pick up. **

**That said, it's a little late to change the plot and all that but at least it's still really early in the story so I think it's mostly salvageable, and I'm going to damn well try to do just that with the next chapter and onwards. And thus begins my healing of Carrie.**

**So for next chapter (which will probably still be sporadic and randomly updated with long gaps in between since I'm actually focusing on my other two stories right now), we'll wrap up Violet City, and move on to Route 32 and Union Cave. For the record, I have no actual chapter-by-chapter plot planned for this other than the main plot so I'm writing it as I go. I've been doing that from the start, unlike the other stories where I have at least a vague idea what's going to be in each chapter before they're written and combed out. I'll start planning chapters in advance now, though, for the sake of making this enjoyable to write again and, after all, I'm still using it for practice.**

**So, uh, yeah. Long note for a long gap in between chapters. **


End file.
